The Star: January 10, 2019

The Star Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Thursday January 10 2019 31
Sport
Jack of all trades honoured
• By Gordon Findlater
IN THE sporting realm there’s
not much that Barry Gardiner
hasn’t done.
The 81-year-old who celebrated
his birthday earlier this week was
recognised for his achievements
by being named in the New Year
Honours List as a member of the
New Zealand Order of Merit.
Rather than sitting back and
relaxing on the back of the nod,
Gardiner is doing what he does
best. He’s played 10 rounds of
golf in the last 12 days, is swimming
and playing squash regularly,
and is currently riding the
bike most days as he trains for
the 47km Motatapu mountain
bike race from Wanaka to Arrowtown
in March.
“It’s quite a tough course but I
go in it most years because I get
the prize for the oldest finisher
which is a bottle of wine . . . it’s
good stuff as well, Central Otago
pinot noir,” said Gardiner.
You could say Gardiner has
peaked late. In recent times he’s
won squash world titles in the
over 50, 60 and 70 categories.
In his younger days he was one
of the South Island’s top rugby
league and union players until a
serious knee injury in 1965 while
playing for the Hanan Shield
team (a mid-Canterbury, South
Canterbury and North Otago
combined team) against the
Springboks.
Gardner holds a unique record
of having played four different
positions against France in two
different codes in the space of a
year.
In 1960 he played for the South
Island in a rugby league match
against the French. He started in
the forwards. However, 20min
into the game the South Island
halfback was injured. With no
replacements in those days he
played the rest of the match at
halfback.
The following year he represented
South Canterbury
against France. After starting at
flanker he finished the match at
first five-eighths due to another
injury.
Gardiner never played internationally
in either code. However,
he came as close as you possibly
can in 1958 when he was selected
as the emergency forward for
the Kiwis ahead of a test against
Great Britain.
“There was a guy by the name
of Jack Jones who was the prop
selected from Canterbury and
he ended up breaking his finger.
When they found out he couldn’t
play we only had six forwards
and I was included . . . on the
Friday night they announced the
team and they bought in a big
prop from Auckland so everyone
got dropped back one and I
ended up being the emergency,
so I missed out.”
Before moving to Timaru,
Gardiner was part of a very successful
West Coast league team.
“In 1960 we played Auckland
in Auckland and beat them . . .
there was probably about 11 or
12 coasters in the South Island
team that same year and beat
the North Island team in Greymouth,”
said Gardiner.
“We used to beat Canterbury
regularly. It was a good era for
West Coast rugby league. If you
look at where it is on the coast
now it’s a shame. They’ve lost all
their big miners and timber people
which was their strike force
for rugby league.”
Gardiner also played cricket for
the West Coast as a wicket-keeper,
including an unsuccessful Hawke
Cup challenge against Nelson.
While living in the West Coast
he also won the shot put title at
the Canterbury junior athletics
championships in dramatic
fashion.
The West Coast athletes
travelled by bus on Friday for
FAMILY SUCCESS: In 2016, Gardiner won
the 75-plus national title, his son-in-law
Grant Craig (left) won the 50-plus title and
son Dave Gardiner (right) won the 40-plus
title. Two weeks earlier his granddaughter
Megan Craig won the NZ open women’s
title.
AGELESS:
Barry
Gardiner is
training for
the 47km
Motatapu
mountain
bike race.
He will be
the oldest
competitor
at 81.
PHOTO:
MARTIN
HUNTER
the Saturday event. However, a
storm closed roads to Christchurch
meaning the bus didn’t
arrive at Lancaster Park until the
event was well under way.
“We ran across to the shot put
and it had just finished. The official
said: ‘Look I’m sorry but you’re
too late we’ve just finished it.’ We
explained the situation and he said
you can have one throw and it’s
going to have to be right now. I was
still in my street clothes, I picked
it up did my best Parry O’Brien
technique. It flew out of my hand
and I ended up winning it.”
In terms of the many highlights
Gardiner holds a world
over-50 squash title in 1991 as his
greatest achievement.
“I never knew I had that in me.”
The squash court is also where
Gardiner’s most hilarious sporting
moment occurred.
“I was warming for my match
and was in my track pants on. I
went off to take my track pants
off, came back on the court
started the game and the crowd
starting laughing, I looked down
to see I was standing there in my
undies. I had forgot to put my
shorts under my track pants.”
Off the field Gardiner has been
involved as an administrator
at club, district, national and
international levels. He has
held voluntary committee
membership positions with
squash clubs for 51 years.