Brian Velvin knows what the guys at the surf club will say when they find out about his latest award.
Brian Velvin knows what the guys at the surf club will say when they find out about his latest award.
“Oh, I’m going to get heaps. The first thing they’re gonna do is ring the bell and I’ll have to shout. I might be keeping away from there for a while.”
Mr Velvin, 62, has been made a Member of The New Zealand Order of Merit for services to surf lifesaving.
“I got a letter through the mail, I didn’t know a thing. They kept it pretty quiet,” he said.
“They” refers to those who nominated him ” his son Todd, and a few of the lifesaving crew, who he said aren’t letting on too much.
“I got a copy of all the letters that had been written in support, some from overseas. It’s quite an honour and quite humbling.”
Those letters included endorsements from the United States, Australia and Belgium.
One of them mentions his nomination, followed by the simple question: “Who better?”
Indeed.
Mr Velvin has given more than 50 years’ voluntary service to surf lifesaving in Taranaki, nationally and internationally.
He joined the Fitzroy Surf Life Saving Club when he was 10, and progressed from swimming to lifeguarding.
“It’s the family atmosphere here in Taranaki. People will do a patrol and then have a barbecue afterwards.”
A former chairperson of the national board of Surf Life Saving New Zealand, he has also been a member of the International Life Saving Federation for 15 years, and served on its board of directors from 1998 to 2000.
He managed to retire for two years, before going back to serve on the Sport Commission of International Lifesaving, simply because of the calibre of people involved.
“I just enjoy doing it ” it’s the people. We’ve made friends all around the world.”
Mr Velvin is no stranger to accolades ” in 1985 he won the New Zealand Rescue of the Year Award for a night
On that night, he and two other lifeguards rode an inflatable rescue boat (IRB) up the coast to search for a boat that had sunk, eventually pulling a survivor off the cliff-face at about 2am.
Over the years, surf lifesaving has changed to include IRBs, rescue tubes, and more professionalism. He said one of his most memorable achievements was winning a medal in the same team as his son at a national championship event in 1995.
Next February Mr Velvin will be the event referee for the International Surf Rescue Challenge at Mt Maunganui, with seven countries competing.
“I’m doing it just to keep my hand in, so I don’t get bored.”
Photo by CAMERON BURNELL/Taranaki Daily News
