South Coast paddler Therese Holgate has helped Australia take out two gold and two silver medals at the World Nations Dragon Boat Championships in Kunming, China.
Holgate, who lives in Moruya, was a key member of the Senior B Women’s Australian Auroras team that narrowly missed out on being triple gold medalists.
The team started the regatta in great style winning the two-kilometre race by nine seconds from Canada, the reigning world champions.
This was the first time an Australian Senior B team has beaten Canada. The team then went on to win gold in the 200-metre event and picked up silver in the 500-metre and one-kilometre events.
The Auroras were desperately unlucky to miss out on gold in the one-kilometre event. The medals were decided by the total times over three races. So while the Auroras won two of the three races, they still missed out on gold by 0.002 seconds.
Overall Australia won five gold at the Championships which was their best ever result.
The team started the regatta in great style winning the two-kilometre race by nine seconds from Canada, the reigning world champions.
The World Championships drew huge, enthusiastic crowds over the five days of the regatta. The event was also telecast live in China. Twenty-six countries participated.
The results were just reward for the rigorous training regime that was required of the Auroras. Prospective paddlers participated in fitness and on water trials in Sydney in October last year.
The team consisted of paddlers from all states and once selected they were given a weekly gym and on water training program.
In the last 12 weeks of the campaign, Therese traveled to Sydney each week to train with the NSW Auroras on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.
The Auroras also participated in training camps in Merimbula, Sydney and Melbourne.
Therese's next goal is the 14th World Nations Dragon Boat Championships to be held in Thailand in 2019.
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