Sydney Dragon Sports Association Dragon Boat Club

The first official regatta for the season.  It was an early start to the day and the heavy fog out at Penrith wasn't helping either.  However, once it cleared it turned out to be pretty good weather-wise.  Overcast with sunny breaks.  I'm quite certain the sunny breaks were very much appreciated by all paddlers (especially those trying to dry out!).

A good half of the DSA contingent that day were new paddlers and/or first time racers.  It was probably a shock to the system for the first-timers to see so many other paddlers and clubs gathered in the once place.  If not that, the standard of the competition would be daunting to any newcomer.  These were 200m sprint races, and these races go fast!  It's a matter of everything you've got from start to finish and no looking back.  Blink and it'll all be over.

Regardless, our teams made a great start to the regatta.  The competition was tough and it was only seconds if not milliseconds between boats.

And this is how the DSA teams went in the two rounds of racing that day:

ROUND 1

Prem Mixed
DSA Blue 4th 00.55.450
DSA Yellow 1st 00:51:100

Prem Open
2nd 00:51:950

Prem Womens
3rd 00:59:910

ROUND 2

Prem Mixed
DSA Blue 2nd 00:55:820
DSA Yellow 2nd 00:52:390

Prem Open
2nd 00:53:340

Prem Womens
3rd 00:59:420

For the first time in God knows how many years (a long time I've been told), the DSA Open team raced better than the Women's team.  With the above scores, the DSA Yellow Mixed team and Open team qualified to compete in the MAJOR final.  That in itself is already a huge achievement!

Unfortunately the opposing teams were just too strong in the finals with DSA Yellow coming 6th in a time of 00:52:76, and the Opens team 5th in a time of 00:51:36.  Regardless, we all felt we had raced as well as we could have this early on in the season and were proud of our achievements.

We finished off the day in typical DSA style.  Off to the pub for pizza, drinks and rugby! (Go Australia!)

Great effort to all who raced!  In particular, our new paddlers who really stepped up to the challenge.  Here's to becoming a stronger competitor for the next regatta!