Sea rescue changed Sid Salek’s life
optometrist/surf lifesaver b March 26, 1930 d January 5, 2021
Dodgy eyesight and saving a workmate from drowning in Wellington Harbour proved lifechanging for Sid Salek.
A prominent member of the Wellington Jewish community, the 90-year-old was farewelled recently with tributes coming from Samoa and New Zealand.
Sidney Philip Salek, known as ‘‘Supa Sid’’ or ‘‘Super Sid’’, was a legend in surf lifesaving, and his loss was particularly felt by members of his beloved Omanu Surf Club, at Mt Maunganui.
‘‘Sid . . . we will miss you at Omanu Beach. Your beautiful smile, your story telling, your positiveness, your swimming, your competitiveness at carnivals and your medal hauls, your good bloke personality.’’
Sid started competing in ocean swimming events in Samoa in his 80s, and organisers of an event he competed in regularly took to social media to lament his death.
’’Sid became a loved member of the Samoa Swims community . . . we loved having him in Samoa.’’
Perhaps the defining moment in his life came in 1949, when he was swimming with a co-worker who got into difficulty. The man began to lose consciousness and was beginning to sink. Sid and another man swam out and rescued him.
His action in saving the man’s life was recognised by the Royal Humane Society of New Zealand with a bronze medal.
Busy pursuing a career as an optometrist, Sid waited until he was in his 60s to become a lifeguard and, at the time, was considered the oldest Wellingtonian to become a qualified guard.
By the time he began ocean swimming in Samoa, he had already smashed masters and world records, held the record for the most swims around Mt Maunganui, and had spent more than 20 years patrolling beaches in Wellington’s Lyall Bay, and in the Bay of Plenty.
He was born in Wellington, to
Louis and Fanny Salek, who believed in a good education, and he was sent to Wanganui Collegiate as a boarder.
His school years were not happy, but one thing he excelled in was swimming. In later life he would joke that his shortsightedness was so bad they had to hang a rag at the end of the pool, so he knew where to turn.
After leaving school, where he broke 13 pairs of glasses in one year, Sid decided – based on his own experience at school – that there had to be good money in becoming an optometrist.
He buckled down and studied hard and subsequently went to the UK to further his study.
Whilst in London, Sid met Sylvia Corran at a Jewish youth group. They married in November 1959 and returned to Wellington by boat in January 1960. After a couple of years, Sid started his own optometry practice and soon became well known in Wellington.
He was an active member of the Jewish community as well as the Chevra Kadisha (a group that ensured Jews were prepared for burial according to tradition, and protected from desecration). He also helped establish a Jewish kindergarten, and worked with welfare agencies to help Russian Jews settle in New Zealand. S id never forgot his early difficulties in the pool and, throughout his life, he made bespoke goggles and dive masks to help the visually impaired.
His son, Andy, remembers him as a man with a big personality who loved his family, swimming, skiing and enjoying life.
‘‘When we were young, holidays were always an adventure. Water skiing on Rotorua lakes, then many years in the Marlborough Sounds, where we’d spend a month fishing and exploring the region by boat.’’
Sid’s interests were farreaching, encompassing everything from nude water-skiing to snorkelling, and he did it all with great passion and enthusiasm.
‘‘His work, his exercise regime, the latest vitamins, his car, his motor scooter, skiing, his stretching, his diet, his passion for Ma¯ oritanga – the list goes on.’’
The family lived in Karori, but after Sid and Sylvia separated in 1982, he moved to Lyall Bay, where he later became a surf lifeguard. He was one of the first people to drive the now well-known inflatable rescue boats.
In the early 1990s, he moved to Tauranga and then Mt Maunganui, where he renewed his love of swimming and shone as a master swimmer.
He competed in many masters events here and internationally, both in the pool and in the ocean, where he won medals and held records for his age group in a number of events. For a while he even held a world record for the 50-55 aged bracket.
He returned to surf lifesaving as an active member of the Mt Maunganui and then Omanu surf clubs. Living just around the corner from Omanu, he would jump on his trusty 1969 Lambretta motor scooter, always polished and presented immaculately, and join club members patrolling the beach.
‘‘He regarded Omanu club members as his family, was fondly known as Super Sid,’’ says Andy. ‘‘They in return saw him as their mascot and elder statesman. He was always greeted with much affection by young and old alike.’’
In later life, he also adopted another, unlikely, hobby. He won a Hillary Foundation contest to encourage older people to try a new sport, and selected gliding.
With his typical enthusiasm, he was soon going solo, and helping out at the gliding club in Tauranga.
Sid left a lasting legacy on his children, an enthusiasm for life and adventure that saw Andy become a mountain heli-ski guide and his other children, Anne and Ian, succeed in their chosen careers.
Wellington city councillor Simon Woolf says Sid was a great character and a highly respected member of the local Jewish community.
‘‘He was just one of those guys who was very effervescent all the time. You never saw Sid sitting down.’’ – By Nicholas Boyack
Sources: Salek family, Simon Woolf.
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