Alexander Grant RENNIE

Alick Rennie represented South Africa in slalom canoeing at the 1992 Olympics. He had been among the nations’s top paddlers in the 1980s and 90s, winning several national championships in slalom, and finishing the Dusi Canoe Marathon 12 times. Rennie was also an administrator for canoeing and served as a President of Canoeing South Africa.

Rennie was also passionate about flying and was a qualified pilot with over 3,000 hours flying time. He flew out of the Pietermaritzburg Aero Club where he was a chief flying instructor. But in early December 2013 he and pilot David Grosvenor took off from Underberg to fly to the Oribi Airport in Pietermaritzburg. They did not land as per the flight plan and communication with them was lost. A search ensued and their plane was found several days later with their bodies and the plane intact, but both men had been dead for several days. One of Rennie’s children, Iain, was also a former South African slalom canoeing champion and qualified pilot.