He was a big wave rider in his younger days and often frequented Sunset Beach in Hawaii. When at home, his favourite surfing spot was The Point at Dee Why where he was known to crack some huge waves, too.
But Barry Cardiff did have a serious job in life and was a very popular teacher at St Augustine’s College at Brookvale for many years.
He may have been Mr Cardiff to his students, but around Dee Why he’s known as Cholly. Surfboards aside, and they were certainly long and heavy when he rode them, Cholly joined his first surf club as a cadet in 1951.
No need to guess it was Dee Why – and he’s been a member since.
On Sunday at the club’s AGM, Cholly received Life Membership and a second badge for 60 years Long Service Award.
To say he was taken aback would be an understatement.
”A bit emotional to say the least,” he said. “Life Membership says to me you feel I will always have an interest in this club and offer to contribute in an appropriate way at those times,” he said. “I feel privileged to be able to join Life Members of this club who have set the bar at a challenging level and I will contribute in maintaining that level.”
A one-time beach inspector at Dee Why, Cholly says being Dee Why club race secretary gave him one of his greatest pleasures.
”The Sunday club races were pretty big in those days, covering surf, craft, R and R and sand events,” he said.
Cholly also introduced the Clark Kent Cup. “When Coolangatta Gold was introduced, I thought how could we do a similar event on a smaller scale at our club. So the Clark Kent Cup was introduced using the four disciplines, swimming, cycling, running and paddling and the winner was crowned Clark Kent/Superman.”
Cholly is a bit of a Superman himself. No matter what the weather is like, he’s a regular at Dee Why Pool or the beach for his early morning swim. ”It certainly has been cold lately but you have to keep going,” he says.
