FOUR paddlers from Narooma Blue Water Dragons travelled to Canberra for two days of racing on Lake Burley Griffin on March 28 and 29. The beautiful autumn weather with blue skies and no wind meant conditions were perfect for the event. This was the National Capital’s final regatta for the 2015 racing season so there were trophies to be won.
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The Narooma paddlers, Robert Leftwich, Donna Anderson, Sue Seath and Jane Mansergh combined with paddlers from clubs in Merimbula and Moruya to form the “Southern Waratahs”. Teams were entered into the women’s and mixed events. Paddlers from Canberra and Jindabyne also helped out over the two days to ensure we had a full boat for each race.
Racing started on Saturday morning with the 200m. The women’s team had paddled well in their two heats so were feeling confident going into the B final. The paddlers maintained their power throughout the race and surged home to win by a Dragons whisker. Trophy number one.
The mixed team, with half the amount of male paddlers as the other boats were always going to do it tough but they performed well gaining a spot in the B final and managed to cross the finish line in front of two other boats.
Saturday afternoon featured the 1km time trial. Boats start one by one at 15 second intervals and are racing against the clock. There was much excitement on shore as our male paddlers and supporters watched the women’s team pass one team around the first corner and power home over the finish line to gain third place. Trophy number two.
We arrived at the lake on Sunday morning to thick fog so while we waited for it to lift we joined the Canberra club Komodo Dragons in their warm up routine. We picked up some good exercises from them to help loosen up our aching and aging bodies.
Racing soon got under way with the 500m and 2km events. Again the women’s team managed to win the B final in a close finish. Trophy number three. With our energy flagging the women set off on the 2km time trial. Despite giving it our all we could only manage a fourth place.
It was a gruelling two days of paddling but it was great to paddle with our neighbouring clubs as we have developed a great camaraderie over this racing season. We are looking forward to continuing our collaboration at regattas in 2016.
If you would like to have a go at Dragon Boating, pop down to the club’s boat shed (situated next to the Quarterdeck Café) on Saturdays at 8.30am. For more information contact the club on 0477 610 953, or, email Narooma.bwd@gmail.com You can also follow us on Facebook.