Dragons on Demand blitz the field again…..
The Place: Canberra
The Date: Saturday March 11, 2006
The Event: Canberra Day Dragonboat Regatta
The Result: Annihilation of all other crews.
The Reward: ‘Bling’ (ie a trophy!), pride and ear to ear grins!
It’s always fun to go on a roadtrip with your team mates and if you can win a trophy, all the better!
The drama started way before the races! On Friday evening we headed to our nation’s capital in order to prime ourselves for the big race day on Saturday. Some paddlers were so keen to step onto that figurative podium that they kept driving towards
Melbourne! (wrong roadtrip!). The whole team managed to amass by 1:00 am, with the boys proving to be the navigationally challenged ones!
Saturday dawned sunny and warm which is the complete opposite to the constant rain, wind and cold we experienced last year so we were very appreciative of that added bonus. We were also afforded a beautiful setting at Weston Park, looking down the hill towards the lake. We were even joined by a couple of kangaroos who were keen to either watch the races or see what food they could help themselves to!
The first heat was an opportunity to gauge the field, although it seemed like the other boats were hardly moving as we won by many seconds in an impressive time of 59.32 seconds. After a little nap for some and a bite to eat and a chat for others, we fronted for our second heat. By this time the wind had picked up so our time was a little slower at 61.59 seconds. Both these times were far better than any times posted by the other crews, so we were placed in the A final as top seed.
This Final race was a lot more important as it was the make-or-break defining moment, what the whole weekend boiled down to. All eyes were in our boat, we took a few deep breaths and then we were off. It wasn’t until we finished the race that we looked around to see that we had in fact won. We were neck and neck with a team of 16 beefy men but they tired half way through as we powered to victory in 58.13 seconds – amazing what adrenalin can do!
As we were competing in the Corporate / Social category, there was a lot of joviality between all the teams. We befriended the Calvary Kiwiroos team, half of whom were the friends and family of a very outgoing Kiwi who was the frontman to a very amusing Hake-inspired performance. Everyone cheered as this team performed their ‘Hake’ before each race and we were even invited to join in on the last one which was a lot of fun.
Our celebratory dinner was a Turkish feast being entertained by a belly dancer who dragged up some of the boys to join her in a shake and a wiggle, some more enthusiastic that others!
Again this year the location of the trophy is a mystery. It was the guest of honour at our dinner but has not been seen since. Some team members are looking very suspicious, others distraught at its possible loss. Stay tuned for updates!
The girl winners:
Kim Dacosta, Cindy McCutcheon, Ingrid Sumargo, Danielle Toon, Mish Chim, Danielle Harmer, Ling Ling Tsai, Barbara Zapletal, Gina Mohamad, Jenny O’Hearn, Julie Mungomery.
The boy winners:
Stephen Dacosta, Bang Duong, Paul Goyoaga, David Stiles, Gregor Erdmann, John Carroll, Richard Wilcox, Richard Tran, Faisal Mirza.
For any information on the team or if you want to come along for a paddle, please contact John or Ingrid
Article by Julie Mungomery
