Farewell to Ken Murray, star of the surf boat

His achievements are long and illustrious and unlikely to be matched. His unrivalled performance as a surf boat sweep, and his dedication to the surf lifesaving movement, will be recorded as a very significant one.

If there is a surf live saving equivalent of rugby league's "immortal" status, then Ken, who died last Saturday, will undoubtedly make this list.

Colloquially referred to as "Hot Dog", Ken started his surf lifesaving days with the Swansea Belmont Club, and that's where he finished. His first medal was won there, a gold medal with a Swansea Belmont junior boat crew.

However, most of his time and illustrious achievement was spent with the Caves Beach Surf Lifesaving Club. Records show that he won:

- 46 Hunter Branch gold medals;

- 10 NSW state titles, four silver and nine bronze;

- Nine Australian gold, six silver and six bronze; and,

- one world championship gold.

Remarkably, he contested 31 Australian championship finals.

In the 1962-63 season, the Caves Beach senior surf boat crew of John McDonald, Henry Jonczyk, Don Ellercamp, Mick Ellercamp and Murray were virtually undefeated.

They clean swept all the major titles - they won gold at the Newcastle branch championships, NSW state titles, interstate titles, and Australian championships.

As sweep and boat captain in the same year, Ken nearly did the same with the junior crew of Allan Sullivan, Robert Hobson, Gordon Richardson, and Stuart Chalmers.

The only thing that they didn't achieve was a win at the interstate titles. They came second.

The Caves Beach senior crew won the NSW state titles four years in a row between 1961-64.This has never been repeated.

There was also a number of boat marathons contested in the period.

Caves Beach crews that were captained by Ken dominated the spoils in events such as Pittwater to Whale Beach, the Palm Beach classic which was a row around Lion Island, and the Coogee Beach event which steered a course around Wedding Cake Island.

One memorable marathon was a row between the north and south islands of New Zealand.

A row of approximately four hours, the Caves crew came fourth out of about 30 starters.

Crew members swear the only reason they didn't win it was because of a lack of local knowledge (they didn't pack any fresh water either which didn't help).

Ken was, without doubt, one of the most successful surf boat competitors in Australia, which saw him selected in six Australian teams and 10 Hunter Branch teams.

During the era, he was one of the first selected for the NSW state teams.

This magnificent effort saw him achieve life membership of Caves Beach SLSC, Swansea Belmont SLSC, Hunter Branch Association, Surf Life Saving NSW and Surf Life Saving Australia.

Ken's achievement also saw him inducted into the Australian Hall of Fame, NSW Hall of Fame, Hunter Region Hall of Fame, and ASRL Hall of Fame.

Despite the glory of attainment above, Ken was also known as a "club man". He took the role of club boat captain very seriously, and was ever at hand to pass his knowledge to others.

His close friend and associate, Don Ellercamp (also an accomplished surf boat sweep), told me that "he taught me a lot about the art of boat captaincy" and the only regret was that "I wish he had taught me more". I reckon his other good mate and boat sweep Gordon Richardson might share that sentiment.

Whoever coined the term "Bronzed Aussie" might well have been talking about Ken.

The folk of the day say he was intelligent, charming and affable.

He was no slouch on the football field either, he played with Lakes United and was a regular in first grade.

Ken mixed the sporting achievements with work, finishing his working life as a was coal miner at the Newvale 2 Colliery at Lake Munmorah.

Like all champions they are supported by someone behind the scenes - in this case Joan, his loving wife. Our thoughts are also with their daughters Leanne and Susan and the extended family.

On behalf of the Swansea/ Belmont community, goodbye Ken Murray.

Under normal circumstances there would not be a funeral hall big enough to accommodate the many hundreds of people who would like to say farewell.

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