Sport
30 April, 2025
Original King of the River to return for 50th anniversary
Dave Ferguson won the inaugural Gregory River Canoe Marathon and will be back in Gregory this weekend.
The first man to be crowned the “King of the River” will return to Gregory this weekend, 50 years after he and three mates paddled the mighty river to plot the course of the inaugural marathon race.
Now living in Mackay, former Mount Isa resident Dave Ferguson says he’s looking forward to being back at the place he dominated for many years in a canoe.
“I’m a little bit nervous because I’m not so good with names these days,” the 77-year-old said.
“It’ll be good to be back and see the river again. My memory isn’t as good as it used to be but I can still remember being up there and charting the course for the first Gregory race.”
Ferguson made the trip to the Gulf community with Bob Privet, Phillip Holding and Ron Snow, where they scouted the best places in the river to turn into what has now become a legendary race.
The inaugural Gregory River Canoe Marathon took place on June 6, 1976. Eighteen paddlers started the race and Ferguson was the first across the line in a time of four hours and nine minutes. He was followed by Snow, who was two minutes behind.
Ferguson then went on to be a dominant force on the river.
“I won about six of the first races and that’s why they called me the King of the River,” he said.
“I think that nickname ended up being passed on to someone else, which is fair enough.”
Ferguson’s achievements were even more impressive when you consider he paddled a range of boats down the Gregory.
His inaugural victory was in a slalom canoe – not an ideal vessel for such a trip – and he also won in a TK2 kayak, a K1, K4 and a
Canadian canoe.
“It was competitive, but it was also about having fun with friends,” said Ferguson.
“The memories are made over the whole May Day weekend, not just on the river.”
THIS WEEKEND
A big crowd is expected to be in Gregory for the long weekend.
The North West Canoe Club will hold its traditional Dinner in the River on Friday night, while the Gregory Jockey Club’s Saddle and Paddles race meeting will kick off at lunchtime on Saturday, with live entertainment to follow.
On Sunday morning, paddlers competing in the full-length Gregory River Canoe Marathon will start racing at 8am.
The overall race record stands at two hours, 43 minutes and 23 seconds, which means the first paddlers across the line won’t get to the finish point until around 10.45am on Sunday.
The cut-off time is 2pm, as presentations will be held at 2.30pm on Sunday.
There are two main options to get to Gregory from Mount Isa.
To travel via sealed road, head towards Cloncurry and head along the Burke Developmental Road to Three Ways. Fill up at the Burke and Wills Roadhouse before taking the Burketown Road to Gregory.
The “shortcut” is to head west towards Camooweal on the Barkly Highway. After about 120km, turn right onto the Thorntonia-Yelvertoft Road. This will merge into the Camooweal-Gregory Road and shave about 140km off the fully sealed route.