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  • Rowbust in England ~ The 2014 London to London Connection!
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CCWC 200m Race Day!

4/3/2016

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It’s no secret, it’s all over Facebook, Twitter, Instagram…we have retained our World Champion status!

Each of the three 200 meter races were close…too close for comfort!  But comfort is not what we’re here for.  We had some serious competition.  It could have gone either way.

We didn’t nail our first start but the rest of the race was good.  We nailed our second start but the rest of the race was “crap”.  But, the third race, we finally got our sh*t together and hit every stroke on our way down the race course.  It felt so good, but at the end as we looked to our right, from lane one, we really didn’t know who crossed the finish line first.  They were right on us all the way down the course!  As we paddled back to the beach we got the “thumbs up” from our supporters! Yep, we’d done it!  

On a personal note…for each race I wore a button of Gail Hathaway’s smiling face.  So that it wouldn’t interfere with my paddling I wore it low on my jersey, near the hemline.  At no time during the competition did the button bother me to be there.  That is until the final race.  I felt the edge of the button dig in to my leg on every stroke!   Gail was in the boat, pushing us along, making sure we crossed that finish line first.  Thank you Brown Sugar!

After landing on the beach there were no high-fives, there were hugs all around as we made our way back up the beach and through the paddle arch made by the other BCS teams.  “Congratulations” and “we’ll get you next time” heard all the way through.  All in the name of good sportsmanship.  It really is an honour for all of us to be here, at this level of competition. But mostly to still be on the green side of the grass, living and breathing and sharing our love of paddling with our friends around the world.

We didn’t come all this way just to come all this way…we came to win!  

A huge thank you to the ladies of Paddles & Pearls Charleston (US), Abreast of Life New Zealand, Dragons Abreast Sydney and Missabittatitti Australia.  You pushed us to be at our best!

Now that the competition is complete, it is time to celebrate!  We had a pizza party in “Cheryl’s Courtyard” and some much needed social time.

Over the next few days we will tour around Adelaide.  A large group of us will be taking a day trip over to Kangaroo Island.  And by the end of the week many will be going on to explore more of Australia.

This marks the end of our adventures at CCWC Australia.
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Thank you for following us, for staying up through the night and watching the live feed and cheering us on from home!  Your encouraging texts, emails and comments are very much appreciated!  We can feel your support all the way around the world!
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CCWC 500m Race Day

4/2/2016

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Wow!  What a day!

A fire has been lit.  And today it burned hot within the Rowbust women.  

Today we competed in three 500m races.  And in all three races we crossed the finish line before the competition.

We wanted it.  We dug deep.  We took it.

Every race counted as it is the cumulative time of all three races per distance that determines the winner.

Each visit to the marshaling area was an opportunity to meet new people, swap paddling stories and even brag some about our respective clubs.  The women of the BCS division can be described in one word, genuine.  There are no actual rivalries.  We all know what has brought us together.  There is no need to discuss it.  There is no time for it.  We are busy living each day, enjoying our time together, on the water and off.

However, on every start line there were are no friendly exchanges.  There is only us, in our boats, visualizing the race we are about to undertake.  The calm before the storm.  

We hear the call of the starter…”Attention!”

…and of our drummer & stern together “Ready Ready!” 

And then the starting gun and we take our first stroke to get the boat up and moving.  And another and another and soon we are up to our race pace, Laura and Shirley calling us in to power to get out ahead of the other boats.  Our long, power stroke carrying us down the race course.  A few more power sections, every paddler giving everything they’ve got to give.  Soon we are called in to a finish and we bring the rate “Up!” and “Up!”, keeping the stroke long and strong as we speed across the finish line.  We did it. We were the first ones across.  We won.  
We came all this way to defend. And we did.  
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Tomorrow is the 200m race day.  We shall lite another fire!

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CCWC 2km Race Day

4/1/2016

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Today, Friday April 1, 2016 was the first day of racing at the International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) Club Crew World Championships (CCWC).

Our 2km race was scheduled for 3:00pm (race #7).  The bus arrived to pick us up at the complex at 12 noon.  After a short and sweet "pep" talk we were on our way.

We arrived at race site to find an Aussie team squatting in our tent space!  "Somehow" the Rowbust sign that was posted inside the tent was flipped over and they thought it was there tent space.  A few words exchanged and they were vacating our space.

With a bit of time before we were to be called to marshaling, many headed down to the waters edge to check out the action while others hit up the vendor section to get an event shirt before they were all gone.

There was a general feeling of excitement in the air as teams were warming up for their first races of the event.  People everywhere were running, skipping and stretching in preparation.

The call to marshal race #7 came around 2:30pm.  It was "go" time.  Gear in hand, we made our way to the marshaling area and took our place in the shute for lane 6.  IDBF officials checked our ID tags, race number and ensured that our paddles carried the proper IDBF licence.  Here we had another chance to catch up with our Aussie friends that we met in 2014 in Italy before we loaded the boats and the niceties were over...for now.

Loading the boats was a little different than we are used to.  There are no docks.  The boats are beached.  We load back to front and the volunteers push us off the sand.  Different than we are used to, but it works!

We were the sixth of six boats in our 2km race.  Five of these boats were in the BCS division, and one in the All Cancer Survivor (ACS) division.  

The 2km race is a staggered start with 10 to 15 seconds between boats.  We were with last boat to leave the start line.  

We successfully closed the gap between us and boat 5 on the first 500m stretch.  They were given the right of way on the turn but we overtook them on the second 500m stretch as we approached the second turn.

There was a lot of chatter in our boat.  Key voices shouting words of encouragement as we dug deep and paddled on through turns two and three chasing the boats ahead of us.  Laura (drummer) and Shirley (stern) called us in to power when we needed it and we gave them everything we had.  We crossed the finish line with nothing left in the gas tank.  Our shoulders and backs tired from the dog fight.  There is nothing like the feeling of crossing that finish line after giving it your all.  And we had done just that.  Everyone in the race had done the same and it was obvious by the smiles and laughter as we unloaded and high fives exchanged between all competitors.

Because of the staggered start the results of the 2km races are not known until the times are calculated by the officials.  So, we waited....patiently.  Soon, Coach Sue emerged with news.  SILVER!  We did it!  Our 18 months of training had paid off.  No, we didn't take the gold.  But for our very first race of our 2016 paddling season, to take a silver medal at CCWC is very exciting.  Many of the teams we raced against are at the end of their season, when we don't even have our boats out of storage yet.  We wanted competition.  We got it!  And it feels great!  This is what will help build up the BCS division which is still in it's infancy.  

Medals were presented at 4:00pm.  Again, we waited patiently.  Some of us chatting with the Brisbane team and we learned that they had not told their paddlers the results.  They wanted it to be a surprise.  When the results were announced, Brisbane erupted in joyous celebration of their victory.  Many of their members were seen wiping tears from their eyes as they congratulated each other while everyone, Rowbust included, applauded their success.

Results
  • Gold - Brisbane, Missabittatitti
  • Silver - Rowbust
  • Bronze - New Zealand, A Breast for Life

There are two more days of racing ahead of us.  Tomorrow (Saturday) we will race three 500m races and on Sunday three 200m races.  Every race counts.  These are not heats and finals.  The winners are decided by their combined times in each distance.  

Early to bed for us tonight!  


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