Sport
30 September, 2023
Top-three placings for Dragon Boat Pumicestone
THE Dragon Boat Pumicestone (DBP) club secured two trophies as three teams from this club took part in the Redcliffe Red Dragons regatta, held at Lake Kawana on Sunday September 17.
Twenty-four members from DBP were involved as the club entered the Women’s 10, Mixed 10 and Breast Cancer Survivor categories, and placed third in the latter two categories while the women paddlers were in more than one team.
Bizarrely, those in the DBP mixed team had wandered back to their tent in the lead-up to the final race as they didn’t even realise they were in this race. This prompted team manager Leigh Muldoon to yell at them to get down to marshalling or else they would miss the race!
The Redcliffe Red Dragons regatta was the third regatta which DBP had competed in, with the club having hit the water for the first time back in February of this year.
DBP was among 15 clubs to compete in the Redcliffe Red Dragons regatta, with clubs coming from places including the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane and Ipswich.
DBP president Michelle Hanton said the regatta was a perfect example of how dragon boat racing was suitable for all ages.
“Paddling prowess ranged from top-level clubs like TeWaka to junior teams from Brisbane Typhoon right through to the Breast Cancer Survivor category,” she said.
“As a new club we do not have a vast amount of experience under our belts, so our key focus was to be able to nail the start of the race and to find enough energy in our tanks for a final lift as we approached the finish line.
“We were fortunate that it was a brilliantly sunny day with minimum cross or head winds.
“The day went smoothly with two fleets of boats being used that allowed the races to pretty well run on time.”
Michelle said the DBP members were “totally blown away to come home with not one but two trophies”.
“The team is thrilled with the result and inspired to keep on striving to achieve similar results throughout the season,” Michelle said.
Next on the agenda for DBP is the Coomera regatta at Oxenford Lakes on Sunday, October 8.
