Winner 1969
The bar at Garry Barton’s house tells a story in itself.
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There are black and white photographs of the world renowned barefoot water skiier in his heyday, the framed cover of a Sports Illustrated magazine he appeared in, a certificate marking his brush with the Queen, novelty number plates from the US and competitor patches from races all over the globe.
“And we have another room full of stuff out the back,” the 69-year-old Tenambit man said.
He wasn’t wrong either - trophies line the wooden shelving, felt pennants drape down from above, postcard-sized images dominate the back of the door, ageing newspaper articles adorn the dusty corkboard while a flyer advertising US television hit the Mickey Finn Show also gets a run.
Among the memorabilia hangs a purple banner, about A3 in size, with yellow tassels tiered along the bottom and a Maitland Pickers logo front and centre from the 1976 Maitland Sportsperson of the Year awards.
Barton was a finalist that year after receiving the city’s highest individual sporting honour seven years earlier in 1969.
He was away competing in Victoria at the time and unable to attend the presentation but said he was “honoured” to pick up the prize.
Upon reflection, as the awards celebrate 50 years, Barton was certainly a worthy winner.
At that time Barton, just six years after first taking up the sport aged 19, broke the first of four world records with a backwards endurance effort of 12 minutes and 50 seconds on the Williams River at Clarence Town.
Looking back at his career he claimed national titles in Australia, Canada and the US and was regarded as an unofficial world champion prior to the introduction of official world championships in the late 1970s.
He also went on to coach, appeared in commercials and starred in promotional shows after helping pioneer the sport in its infancy.
These achievements have seen him inducted into the Hunter Region Sporting Hall of Fame and more recently the Australian Waterskiing and Wakeboarding Federation Hall of Fame.
Barton is now awaiting news from the International Waterski and Wakeboard Federation after being nominated for their hall of fame.
“I’m certainly not holding my breath because they only induct five people every two years,” Barton said. “But it is just a privilege to be nominated.”