Alistair Wilson

Alistair Wilson was born in Calcutta before he returned home to Prestwick in Scotland to continue with his education. Wilson was 14-years-old when he began his love of kayaking off the coast of Lendalfoot. He soon joined the Kyle Canoe Club in Ayr where he won a six-mile race from Irvine, the first of many victories that he would celebrate during his career. Selected for the Olympic team, Wilson did all his training in a nearby loch before making the trip to the 1964 Tokyo Games. Despite the lack of modern facilities in Scotland he finished a very credible eighth in the kayak singles and reached the semi-finals in the kayak fours. At the 1968 Mexico City Olympics he repeated his feat in the kayak fours by once again advancing to the semi-finals. In 1969 he married Marianne Tucker, who had also competed at the Olympics in canoeing.

Wilson initially retired from the sport following the Olympics to continue to focus on his business of designing and building water sports paddles. He made brief comebacks in 1971 and 1977, where he won British titles, before winning four gold medals at the 1989 World Masters Games. Wilson continued with his love of adventure with trips to Prince William Sound in Alaska in 1980, traversing the rapids of the Grand Canyon in 1997, and undertaking a kayaking trip in Newfoundland in 2001.