What an amazing day!
It was hot and sunny, just the kind of weather we need to get used to for when we are racing in Italy and Hungary. So we might as well get used to it now!!
We usually have to take Pendragon Women with us to fill our crews (and we are always thankful for their help) but not this time. We were able to completely fill two Rowbust crews.
Heart Lake crews:
The weather and crew composition made it a perfect day for Cheryl and Sarah to move people around, try different seats, try different crews and really see what works. And what doesn’t!
It was also the perfect day for our Newbies to experience (and get hooked on) dragon boat racing! And I think that is just what happened!
Rowbust did their 500m race first which placed them in the "D" Division with Coach Sarah drumming and Newton steering. It was a solid 1st race for our Newbies!
Rowbust Dragon Spirit went next and their 500 m race placed them in the "A" Division.
Then came the, always fun, 200 m knockout races.
Rowbust unfortunately was knocked out in the 1st race. But it was so close! We really thought they had it!!
Rowbust Dragon Spirit was up next and stayed in the knockout rounds right to the very end and WON their 200 m knockout round!
Then the 2 km.....Rowbust (Newbie/Italy boat) did the perfect race plan with Sarah sitting on the drum seat talking them through every step of the way and Newton taking them around the turns. Rowbust was the first boat in their heat of 8 boats and 20 second intervals. They were able stay well out in front of all the boats to ensure they were not overtaken by any boat coming up behind! It is always exciting to see the Newbies faces when they come off the boat after their first 2km race. Every single time they are beaming with pride for having done it! They are exhilarated and full of energy when 20 minutes before they were full of butterflies and thought for sure they would be exhausted.
Rowbust Dragon Spirit was in the last 2km of the day. We knew this was going to be a fight since we were up against the best teams of the festival, but that is what makes us better and that is who we need to race against! We held all of the boats behind us until the last turn where 5 boats were all taking the 3rd turn at the same time! Other teams got the right of way of us and we had to help Shirley by drawing on the front left and back right just get around that bouy to “restart” and power up so as not to lose too much ground!!
Coaches got to play around with rosters, seating arrangements and race plans with only 3 weeks of water training under our belt...we didn't do too bad. We know there are things that we are going to work on. We wouldn't want to be “perfect” just yet . And you can bet that we will be doing drills and drills and drills - bring it on Cheryl and Sarah!!!!
In the end it was a great day. The Newbie's got "pinned" with their Rowbust pins and whistles for their life jackets and everyone was all smiles are we parted ways and headed for home!
WELCOME TO ROWBUST 2018 NEWBIES!
Pictures below are courtesy of Shirley Holland & Lisa Bean
It was hot and sunny, just the kind of weather we need to get used to for when we are racing in Italy and Hungary. So we might as well get used to it now!!
We usually have to take Pendragon Women with us to fill our crews (and we are always thankful for their help) but not this time. We were able to completely fill two Rowbust crews.
Heart Lake crews:
- Rowbust – all the 2018 Newbies and many of the crew who will be travelling to Italy this summer.
- Rowbust Dragon Spirit – the majority (but not all) of the crew who will compete in Hungary together.
The weather and crew composition made it a perfect day for Cheryl and Sarah to move people around, try different seats, try different crews and really see what works. And what doesn’t!
It was also the perfect day for our Newbies to experience (and get hooked on) dragon boat racing! And I think that is just what happened!
Rowbust did their 500m race first which placed them in the "D" Division with Coach Sarah drumming and Newton steering. It was a solid 1st race for our Newbies!
Rowbust Dragon Spirit went next and their 500 m race placed them in the "A" Division.
Then came the, always fun, 200 m knockout races.
Rowbust unfortunately was knocked out in the 1st race. But it was so close! We really thought they had it!!
Rowbust Dragon Spirit was up next and stayed in the knockout rounds right to the very end and WON their 200 m knockout round!
Then the 2 km.....Rowbust (Newbie/Italy boat) did the perfect race plan with Sarah sitting on the drum seat talking them through every step of the way and Newton taking them around the turns. Rowbust was the first boat in their heat of 8 boats and 20 second intervals. They were able stay well out in front of all the boats to ensure they were not overtaken by any boat coming up behind! It is always exciting to see the Newbies faces when they come off the boat after their first 2km race. Every single time they are beaming with pride for having done it! They are exhilarated and full of energy when 20 minutes before they were full of butterflies and thought for sure they would be exhausted.
Rowbust Dragon Spirit was in the last 2km of the day. We knew this was going to be a fight since we were up against the best teams of the festival, but that is what makes us better and that is who we need to race against! We held all of the boats behind us until the last turn where 5 boats were all taking the 3rd turn at the same time! Other teams got the right of way of us and we had to help Shirley by drawing on the front left and back right just get around that bouy to “restart” and power up so as not to lose too much ground!!
Coaches got to play around with rosters, seating arrangements and race plans with only 3 weeks of water training under our belt...we didn't do too bad. We know there are things that we are going to work on. We wouldn't want to be “perfect” just yet . And you can bet that we will be doing drills and drills and drills - bring it on Cheryl and Sarah!!!!
In the end it was a great day. The Newbie's got "pinned" with their Rowbust pins and whistles for their life jackets and everyone was all smiles are we parted ways and headed for home!
WELCOME TO ROWBUST 2018 NEWBIES!
Pictures below are courtesy of Shirley Holland & Lisa Bean
Linda Kuska
Rowbust Team Captain & Original Member (19 years)