A beautiful day for racing at the Vessi 500 Championships dragon boat festival in Vancouver at False Creek. It was also a historic day as it was the first time Nothin' Dragon had two teams in the Senior C Cup race!
Both Red and Black teams put in a great day of racing and times improved as the day progressed.
From the Red team: "Despite being down a few teammates, no one got discouraged and everyone put in 100% effort all day. Our first race was a bit of a challenge. Just couldn’t get the glide! We figured it out, worked on ‘long and patient’ and ‘top hand pressure’ and the next three races felt great! Good glide, and strong finishes. Our times kept improving and we ended proudly with 2:26. It really was a fun day!"
From the Black team: “The consensus was that in our first race, the rate was high, but we managed to maintain it. Our effort resulted in a bronze place finish in the Senior C! Our focus for our next races was to go longer at a slower rate, and as we consistently aimed at doing so, we were able to improve each time and often were surprised to see our results as the effort felt like we may not be going that fast. It helped that most of our starts were strong and smooth. “
A big thanks to Coach Denise who manage lineups, answered questions and provided encouragement and feedback. She has drilled these points into us at training: go long, top hand pressure, patience. We're getting it!
And a special thank you to our steers and drummers who keep us on the course with their steadiness, calls and encouragement, even if they would rather be paddling. It's wonderful to see those new to these positions all doing so well. Your team is very proud of you!
Here are the race results for the Senior C Cup:
Race 1: Senior C
Nothin' Dragon Red – 2:38.291
Nothin' Dragon Black – 2:32.218 (bronze finish)
Our other race results:
Race 5: Nothin' Dragon Red – 2:35.784
Race 7: Nothin' Dragon Black – 2:27.158
Race 13: Nothin' Dragon Red – 2:34. 800
Race 15: Nothin' Dragon Black 2:25.124
Race 20: Nothin' Dragon Red – 2:26. 058 (Division F)
Race 22: Nothin' Dragon Black – 2:17.896 (Division D)
