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Title: Women's Island Classic Review Post by: gorowandpaddle on July 31, 2009, 02:34:10 PM The First Annual Women’s Island Classic Dragon Boat Regatta, held on July 25 at the Gorge Rowing and Paddling Centre (http://www.gorowandpaddle.org/centres/gorge.php), was a smashing success. With the sun shining and a light breeze to keep everyone cool, nine teams from around Vancouver Island were treated to ideal race conditions. Although the majority of teams hailed from host club Gorge Rowing and Paddling Centre, teams from the Cowichan Valley, Nanaimo and even Port Hardy made the trek to Victoria to enjoy what is sure to become a popular event.
Showing the diversity of the sport, the Womens Island Classic featured a trio of breast cancer survivor teams, a 50-plus team in the Amazing Greys and a team of paddlers with MS and their supporters in the MS Wilplay Warriors. Also in attendance were Y Not, an amalgamation of several local crews, and the always strong Nusa’lon Dragons. The ladies from Port Hardy, the Paddling Pink *****cats, showed they did not come to fool around by posting the fastest time in both the first round and the semifinals. Y Not was a strong second with Nusa’lon Dragons placing third after the first two rounds. Those three made up the top final. The Island Breaststrokers, Amazing Greys and Lucky Angels landed in the B final while the Cowichan Valley Dragon Divas, Hope Afloat Canada and MS Wilplay Warriors duked it out in the C final. The A final was a study in contrasts. The Pink *****cats charged down the Gorge waterway with quick short strokes and a high rate while Y Not demonstrated glided along with a powerful longer stroke and markedly slower rate. No more than the length of a dragon’s nose separated the teams at the halfway point, but Y Not turned it up for a dominant finish and won it going away. Nusa’lon edged out the Pink *****cats for second. Island Breaststrokers showed their world survivor champion chops by surging across the line in first to take the B final while the Cowichan Valley Dragon Divas grabbed the glory in the C final. The end of the 500 metre races set the stage for the innovative new ‘Choose Your Ringers’ event to cap the day off. Each crew chose it’s eight strongest paddlers to do battle in a single-elimination dragonboat tug-of-war. Strategy, stroke rate, shouting, good old fashioned muscle and lots and lots of flying water were showcased in this truly compelling competition. When Y Not asserted their overall dominance by pushing Nusa’lon back in the final, the smiles and camaraderie that help make dragonboating such an enjoyable sport were in abundance. Go Rowing Paddling Association would like to thank all participants and the many volunteers that helped make the First Women’s Island Classic a day to remember. We look forward to a bigger and better event next year, and hope to see you there, whether to race or to watch these amazing ladies compete. >EVENT RESULTS (http://www.gorowandpaddle.org/media/results.php) >EVENT PHOTOS (http://www.gorowandpaddle.org/media/gallery.php) Check out the 1st Annual Nanaimo Womens Cup Dragon Boat Regatta (http://www.gorowandpaddle.org/events/additional_events.php) on Saturday, August 29 - Featuring GO Race Management and Millennium Dragon Boats. --- GO Rowing and Paddling Association of Canada GO is non-profit Canadian Athletic Association, and Registered Charity, dedicated to supporting, promoting, and advancing rowing and paddling sports in Canada. Web: www.gorowandpaddle.org Follow GO on Twitter: www.twitter.com/gorowandpaddle Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/pages/Go-Rowing-and-Paddling-Association-of-Canada/17928443781 Title: Re: Women's Island Classic Review Post by: Katy on July 31, 2009, 03:06:32 PM What a nice write-up! :)
Our throw-together crew (Y Not) had a lot of fun with this race and will be back next year! Maybe we can even chuck a crew together for the Nanaimo women's festival in 2010. It's always fun introducing everyone on a throw-together crew to each other on race morning then seeing where it takes you! Thanks to all the organizers and volunteers for this event, it was a great day and everything ran really smoothly! Title: Re: Women's Island Classic Review Post by: NFW on August 01, 2009, 03:25:27 AM The dragon boat tug of war sounds AWESOME haha. Doing it with a full boat will be exciting! This should happen in other Regattas!
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