(2017 ☆ ARCHIVED) Dale Sanders - United States

DALE SANDERS (United States) - Nominee for the 2017 Sportsman of the Year Award

82 Year-old Dale Sanders just finished the 2,200 mile Appalachian Trial as the oldest ever. But that's not all. 

In 2015, Dale Sanders celebrated his arrival at the Gulf of Mexico with a much-deserved glass of champagne. He’d spent the previous 80 days paddling the Mississippi River, a 2,300-mile stretch of water known for its difficult portages, countless dams and intimidating freighter boats.

Even when Sanders reached the salt waters in his Wenonah Wilderness, what he’d achieved hadn’t entirely sunk in. In addition to raising over $22,000 for Type 1 diabetes research, Sanders had set a world record. At 80 years old, the “Grey Beard Adventurer” had become the oldest person in the world to solo paddle the river from source to sea.

Dale Sanders, alias “Grey Beard Adventurer” has been an avid paddler, competitive spear-fisherman and outdoorsman in the field of aquatics all his adult life. He is retired now from a successful career in Parks and Recreation, which spanned six decades, thirty-seven years of which were with the Department of US Navy. He has a Masters Degree from Pepperdine University Malibu, California and continued his post graduate educational achievements in the field of Morale, Welfare and Recreation until he retired, and became a virtually full time volunteer/ staff member for the Wolf River Conservancy.

Dale's National and International titles include the acclaimed Athlete of the Year Award by the International Underwater Spearfishing Association; a past World Record - Underwater Breath Holding; and numerous USA and North American Continent Team and Individual spearfishing awards. In 2015 he also became a triple world champion in sprint kayaking.

As a result of his successes, he received the USA National Sports Foundation award for Excellence in Parks and Recreation Administration, an only one of a kind awarded annually. He is an accomplished paddler and has sailed open seas in his personal quest or adventure. Dale is also an Internationally Certified Instructor in the field of Skin and SCUBA Diving. Often referred to as “River Rat” he is the only person known to have canoed the entire Wolf River from its source, Bakers Pond to the Mississippi in one continuous trip.

Dale is currently serving as Director of Outreach for the Wolf River Conservancy (WRC). His future plans for this coming year are mostly centered around promoting Wolf River events and refining the Conservancy River Guide programs. A noteworthy recent paddling accomplishment was the blazing of the "New Trail" on the Wolf River, between Bateman Road and the City of Moscow, Tennessee. He is an accomplished photographer and prefers to share his works through the WRC website site and Facebook pages as well as on his Waters Less Traveled.

This is a 2017 archived nominee. Voting has closed.