Nothin’ Dragon attended the 36th annual Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival in Vancouver’s False Creek on June 22 and 23. The weather was mild with calm water conditions. Many were concerned about the recent sewage spill into False Creek but everyone was conscious of the precautionary measures.
Team Rock and Team Roll competed with consistent times and great effort, enough to earn noteworthy times in divisions with teams young enough to be our grandchildren. It was exciting to race among 220 teams from across Canada, the USA and Australia in the largest dragon boat event in North America.
Day 1 was momentous, as our Senior C team took silver in the knockouts as we raced in honour of our late teammate, George MacLeod. It was wonderful to have George's sister Jeanie out as well as John (George's childhood friend), both past members of Nothin' Dragon.
We raced for George that day! It was wonderful to meet his sister Jeanie (left) and old friend, John, who both used to paddle for Nothin’ Dragon.
“Shout out to Roy,” said Assistant coach Bob, “who had some members in tears of joy when he said it was the first time in 17 years that he participated in a Senior C race.”
In 2024, the decision to enter the knockout was at the last-minute so we could only enter one team, but we plan to reconvene the usual two-team roster in the senior event next year.
”Team bonding was at the forefront and the beer garden was well attended,” said Bob. “It was a perfect time to enjoy camaraderie, dancing, and then those in the senior team took to the ceremony stage to receive their medals.”
Team Rock during at debrief in the paddlers’ village.
A huge thanks to teammate Henrietta who stood in line for our medals as well as kept us updated on our results and advancements!”
What happens on the bus stays on the bus! We enjoyed a lively return back to Port Moody from Vancouver thanks to newbie teammate, DJ Grace who kept us entertained with ‘Rock and Roll’ tunes living up to our new names!
”I thank each of you for your team spirit and the support you showed to one another over the weekend,” said assistant captain Bob. “Our next major event will be our team BBQ in early July.”
REPLAY! You can check out the livestream replay of both day on their YouTube channel:
Team Roll waiting on the docks at False Creek.
Here are our team's race results:
Team Rock
2:38.079 – Race 12
2:27.553 – Race 50
2:31.620 – Race 73
2:31.838 – Race 101 (Mixed I Final)
Team Roll
2:46.215 – Race 6
2:27.706 – Race 42
2:33.030 – Race 78
2:32.987 – Race 102 (Mixed H Final)
Senior Cup Knockout Race (x 3)
0:31.751
0:31.659
0:32.898
COMPARISON 2023 to 2024
2024 Concord Fastest Times:
ROCK 2:27.553
ROLL 2:27.706
SENIOR C: 0:31.659
2023 Concord Fastest Times:
MIXED BLACK 2:21.584 (1st in G final)
MIXED RED 2:35.496 (8th in F final)
SENIOR C 0:30.036 (3rd)
WOMEN 2:39.215 (2nd E final)
OPEN 2:03.637 (6th in B final)
