FRED’S FINAL WAVE AS MANLY FAREWELLS AN AUSSIE CHAMP

AUSTRALIAN SURF LIFE SAVING, September 4, 2012: One of Manly Life Saving Club’s oldest champions, Fred Hanson, died on Sunday morning on the NSW Central Coast after a short illness. He was 85.

Hanson was one of Manly’s original surf ski paddlers who won the Australian single ski title on Manly Beach in 1948 at just 21 years of age.

 
He was the oldest surviving individual Australian champion and is fondly remembered by a select few who still recall the day he survived the waves that surf lifesaving historians tells us reached up to 20 feet high – winning the same title Manly’s London Olympic champion Murray Stewart won in Perth in 2009 – some 61 years after Fred’s famous victory.
 
“Dad always told of the day he won that race….when they fired the gun the surf went flat and the whole field got out but after cracking a massive wave to the beach he was the only one to hang on to his ski, coming across the line with  his paddle tied to his ski,” recalled son Ian this week.
 
“He was the first to admit he probably wasn’t the greatest paddler in the field but local knowledge and his ability to ride the ski he hand built in his backyard told on the day.
 
“Probably something people don’t know is that he performed a rescue off Manly point the night before the Championships and his ski rammed the rocks – but it was that solid it didn’t cause any damage.

 
“And my uncle, who was on the beach that day recalls the story that Dad’s ski was a foot longer than any other in the race and he won the race by a foot. He was probably lucky there was no scrutineering in those days.
 
“Dad had a special day when he met Murray Stewart at Manly in 2009 and often recalled that day, saying what a nice young man he was and he was thrilled to watch him win the Olympic gold from his hospital bed with the Olympic team cap proudly on his head.”
 
Fred is survived by Ian, his daughter Felicity, his four grand children, Brooke, Troy, Kurt and Jade and three great grand children Summer, Taj and Cooper.
 
Born in Enmore, the family moved to Manly where Fred grew up under the pines and fell in love with the surf and started building his own surf skis, paddling that backyard built 16 footer to victory through those mountainous seas.
 
“He was a great old guy who loved the surf, the Manly Sea Eagles, following his grand kids in all their endeavours around the world and his mates both in Manly and the Central Coast, said Ian.
 
“Dad worked for the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mirror in the machine room as a fitter and turner for most of his life and also worked for Sir Frank Packer, preparing Gretel for the America’s Cup.
 
“Fred loved telling us stories about the days he spent with his Manly Surf Club mates cracking the Queensie bombora and sliding down the waves when the Bower was working.
 
“He was great mates with the legendary ‘Snowy’ McAllister – one of the fathers of surfing – and he and Snowy would often sit at North Steyne and talk about the good old days off the Bower.”
 
“But above all he loved our late Mum (Dorothy) who along with his sister Ruth were members of the Manly women’s march past team.

  “Dad really enjoyed Manly, his early days in Kangaroo Street, down at Pine Street at North Steyne and back at Kangaroo Street where he build an 11 metre swimming pool in the backyard.
 
“All the kids learnt to swim in that pool and it gave him so much satisfaction to see them able to swim, knowing they were all water safe.
 
“Dad will be sadly missed by all his friends and family at Manly and on the Central Coast where he retired some 20 odd years ago.
 
“He was a great old champion, we often referred to him as the genius for all the inventions he would come up with, who loved nothing better than telling jokes to anyone who happened to join his company. He was a passionate Aussie bloke who will sadly missed.”
 
Manly Life Saving Club will honour Fred when they hoist the flag at half mast on Friday and a funeral service will be held this Friday, September 7 at 1pm at the Mackay Family Funeral Home at Ourimbah on the Central Coast.