Check out our website at www.rowbustdragonboat.com
Rowbust Dragon Boat Racing Team
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Rowbust in England ~ The 2014 London to London Connection!
  • Rowbust in Italy ~ 2014 Club Crew WORLD Championships!!
  • Rowbust in Sarasota, FL ~ 2014 IBCPC Participatory Dragon Boat Festival

Pan American Club Crew Dragon Boat Championships

8/20/2015

0 Comments

 
Hi Everyone,
Four full days of FUN......I don't even know where to begin, there was so much that happened over these days!

Let's start with a brief history of the Pan American Club Crew Championships. This event is only the 2nd Pan American Dragon Boat Championships ever held! It was started to help the developing countries participate in dragon boat festivals. They acknowledge that Canada is very advanced in the dragon boat world but most other countries are just developing their programs and a lot of countries, particularly South America and the Caribbean have limited participants so that is why the small boats are used. That way the smaller countries can still participate in an International Sport competition. The next Pan American Championships will be held in Puerto Rico and in 2019 it will be in Trinidad and Tobago!!! Gail-Lynn.......I see a "road trip" to your other home!!!!

At this event there was a very large contingent from Trinidad, Puerto Rico, USA and of course Canada (many teams came from the West).

Thursday: 
We were all a little nervous but excited about trying out a Small boat for the first time! We had a practice at the race site at 5 pm for all of Cheryl's crews....Rowbust BCS, Rowbust Senior B and various CSDC crews.

We all cautiously got into the small boat being very careful to keep our weight out over the gunnel since any shift in weigh could make us tip very easily. Even Shirley just adjusting her feet felt like we were going over!!!

We started out down the race course, Shirley nervous on the back, Laura hanging on at the front and the rest of us just trying to paddle without rocking the boat. 

We did some starts, race plans, sectionals and then Shirley wanted to try some 2 km turns! The first turn was a little wide but then after a few practice turns she was hugging those buoy's just like in a Standard boat!

One hour of practice flew by and that was it......the next day racing for the Rowbust BCS crew!

Off to St. Catharine's to check into our hotel and have supper .....and get to bed early!

Friday:
This was a full day of racing for Rowbust BCS crew. Rowbust Senior B had the day off but came mid-morning to watch some of the races.

We were supposed to be racing 2 Dragon's Abreast Crews, Windsor Wonderbroads, Survivor Thrivers from Cobourg, Barrie Ribbon's of Hope but most of them withdrew from the event and the only crews left were Rowbust and the 2 Dragon Abreast crews!!! 

Today we had to race three 500 m races and the 2 k.

Just like at Nationals, we had to use the "Boot" system for the start. The team had to get the head of the dragon into the "Boot" and keep it there until everyone lined up and the gun went off and the "Boot" dropped. The only challenge this day was the high winds although it seems like it is always windy in Welland. Shirley and the crew did great......into the Boot all 3 times, first time and kept it there while the Toronto crews struggled to get it in!!!

Racing in a Small boat is harder than racing in a Standard boat since you only have half your paddlers. As Sarah explained it to us, it is like doing a Power stroke with each and every stroke!!!! 

In all three 500 m races, we improved and by the time we raced our 3rd race, we were more than a boat length ahead of Toronto.

Then onto the 2 k races......in a small boat!!! The Blind and partially sighted boats started before us, the 2 Toronto crews started before us and then behind us were all the Senior B mixed crews!!

And we started, we caught up to the 1st Toronto boat by the 1st turn, only Akky's Toronto crew was ahead of us, we rounded the 1st turn and then they all came........all the mixed crews started passing us on either side of us!!! Clacking paddles with our crew (yes, they were that close!), our Rowbust boat was rocking for side to side as these faster boats were passing us! Honestly, I'm not sure how Shirley and Laura stayed on our boat!! The Australia team (and there must have been over 200 of them!) was there training for Worlds this week and all of them were situated by the far turn and all you could hear was very loud cheering coming from the side lines!!

We safely stayed right behind the Toronto boat. Then, the way cleared, we tried to pass Akky (the Toronto stern), to try to get the right of way at the next turn but she wasn't going to let us do that without a fight.

Yes......Rowbust had the right of way.......we rounded the corner and came upon an overturned boat with heads bobbing in the water. We had to take the turn a little wider to stay out of the way of the overturned boat. This boat was the Blind and Partially sighted team. But we did manage to get past Akky's team and on our way to the 3rd turn!

We rounded the 3rd turn with the Australia teams still cheering just as loud! Laura told us that Akky and her Toronto team were behind us and Akky was really trying to get her crew to catch up with us........but that was not to be......Rowbust came in 1st!

Once we were off the water, Akky gave me a hug and said that watching Rowbust paddle from behind us was so beautiful! What a great compliment coming from a World Class Stern!

Then the Opening Ceremonies!!! All of the Athletes proudly marched into the grandstand area behind the flag of their country and then took a seat in the stand with all of the other athletes! A few speeches from the dignitaries and then onto the medal presentations!!!! As in all IDBF championship races, medals are presented for each race distance. Rowbust BCS crew was called up twice. First for winning GOLD in the 500 m race and then for GOLD in the 2 k race!!

Day 1 of racing done....back to the hotel, shower, change and off to the team supper in Vineland!

Saturday:
This was the Rowbust Senior B crew's race day for their three 500 m races and their 2 k. The BCS crew had a sleep in and a nice breakfast and then came to watch their Rowbust sisters battle it out on the water.

This is the 1st time that Rowbust has ventured out of the BCS division and into a competitive Woman's division at an International Sport Championship. 

Our Senior B crew was up against very competitive women's crew from Ottawa, Fort Langley and other places.

All three 500 m races were well fought and in each race they improved their time and distance between the 3 leading boats. In each of their 500 m races they placed 4th but oh.....it was soooo close ......they could just "smell" that medal position!!!!

Then came their 2 k race, how exciting to watch a Rowbust crew in action and how beautiful to see how strong they looked passing boats and doing their turns! They looked so strong, so together, what an amazing crew!

I was at the results board waiting for the results to be posted and so many people came up to me (I was wearing my Rowbust racing shirt) and said that they were very impressed by Rowbust and what we were doing. And then Chloe came up to me and said......do you know that you are making history?? Do you know that Rowbust is the 1st BCS crew to compete in a non-BCS division at an International, competitive event? She went on to say how proud she is of Rowbust and how we continue to impress everyone!

Day 2 racing done.......get some supper and to bed because everyone races on Day3!

Sunday:
All 200 m races today. Our BCS crew raced in the morning and our Senior B Crew raced in the afternoon.

Now the nice thing about racing in an IDBF championship race is that every night you submit your crew rosters for the next day of racing and your rosters can be made up of anyone who is signed up for this event.

So, Sarah and Cheryl wanted as many of the crew members to experience the BCS side of racing and for those of us over the age of 50 ......to experience the Senior B side of racing!! So, our 2 rosters were changed slightly from the previous 2 days of racing.

The Rowbust BCS crew raced their three 200 m races in the morning and won all 3 races.......another GOLD medal for that crew!!!!!

The Rowbust Senior B Woman's crew raced against all of the competitive woman's crews in the afternoon. Our 1st race was good but we placed 3rd......Sarah tweaked the seating and gave us some great advice because she knew that we could do better!! Our 2nd race was even better......we placed in 2nd with the 1st place boat about a boat length ahead of us. We KNEW that we could even do better!!!! So, out for our 3rd and final 200 m race...........we each had our instructions from Sarah.......Cheryl gave us our last words of inspiration........down to the start line, into the "boot" and we were all off!!!!

Our start was perfect, our transition was perfect, we had that nice LONG stroke, power on every single stroke, just like doing a canoe test, power into the finish then up and up.....we could hear the roar of the crowd........it just felt so strong. We placed 2nd but the team that placed 1st only had less than half a boat on us.....we made ground with each race and we made those competitive crews sit up and take notice of Rowbust!!! We pulled into the dock and Sarah was running over to us with a HUGE smile on her face.......we KNEW that we did good!!!

Over to the medal presentations and Rowbust BCS was presented with their 3rd GOLD medal and then Rowbust Senior B Woman's crew was presented with our SILVER medal. I can't tell you how proud I am of that Silver medal because that was truly a battle for that medal!!

I have never been so proud of both of these crews, this entire team. Everyone did whatever was asked of them with a smile on their face, everyone encouraged each other and helped each other out, everyone did whatever Cheryl and Sarah asked of them and sat in any seat and whatever boat they were assigned. 


Cheryl must have been exhausted by the end of Sunday but it never showed......she always made time to make sure everyone was okay, our rosters were working and to give us our inspirational words of advice. Sarah took time away from her training for the Worlds to make sure both Rowbust crews did the very best that we could do and give each of us any advice that we needed just at the right time. How can we ever thank Cheryl and Sarah enough for all they do for us.....I know that both crews would not have done as well as we both did if not for their Coaching.........that is very special and something that other teams are envious of......thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!


Shirley and Laura.....you were both on every single Rowbust boat for every single race and you were both amazing!!!! Thank you so much for guiding us in the race plan!


Thank you to all the crew members for making my job as Captain so darn easy!!! As Sarah told us.......we truly are THE BEST team around!!!!

Enjoy showing of those medals, you deserve every accolade that you can get!

Linda




Post submitted by National Crew Captain - Linda Kuska
0 Comments

Vermont - Lake Champlain Dragon Boat Festival - July 31 - August 3, 2015

8/20/2015

0 Comments

 
WOW WOW WOW where do I start???

Friday July 31, 2015 we were to be on the bust and on our way by 8:00 a.m. However, our oldest paddler (who shall remain nameless) thought we were to be off by 9 and actually thought she was early arriving at our meeting site. We waited for our beloved sister and we are so glad we did wait for her and you’ll know why later.  All is good and we were off with our own Sam and Jan team driving the bust to get us to Burlington, Vermont.

Our first stop was at the Big Apple near Colbourne. This was to be a strict 40 minute lunch and back on the bus to continue on our way.  Well we missed the 40 minutes by 5 minutes, got the lecture and we never were late again.

On the bust we watched a movie, then the ukeleles came out to practice our team song for the weekend, “Takin' Care of Business”. We only needed a few run threws, gotter down pat, followed by serenading uking in the background.  Then the Border crossing at Cornwall, we had a wee bit of a delay, a nice officer came on board, took all the passports and we had a couple of foreigners on board who had to be finger printed, photo ID’d and pay their $6.00 visitor visa.  

We arrived safely at our hotel the Windjammer, Best Western around 7:30ish, got checked in, then off for a late dinner and bed for an early morning rise.

Saturday, everyone was up bright and early for a 6:30am breakfast and on the bus for 7:15am to be on our way to the race site.  



What a beautiful location, stunning scenery with the mountains in the foreground overlooking the unpredictable waters of Lake Champlain, very nice marine harbour.  It was rather quiet on site as only the BCS teams were racing this day, we enlisted the help of the men to put our tents up.

What a warm Welcome we received from the Dragonheart ladies, they were so glad we came! Their hospitality, generosity and helpfulness throughout the whole weekend was second to none.

Next, we were off to our 1st Workshop of the day, a lesson on “the catch”, intro, video and then in to the boats for a one hour practice on the catch.  Once that was done, Laura was shuttled out to us in style for our first 500m race of the day. We won our heat and placed 3rd overall (2.23.740) with the other 11 BCS teams.  Not our best for sure and for awhile we didn't know how we placed, we were the underdogs between us, Windsor WonderBroads (2.21.820) and Dragonheart Vermont Sisters (DHVT Sisters)(2.21.650).

A quick break and off to our next Workshop with BC’s own Kevin Kwan on Diners, Drive-in’s and Paddlers.  He was fun, so entertaining (nice eye candy too) and had great props to make his points. 

Just prior to a picnic lunch being served, the paddlers were bagpiped in to the Main Stage. Lunch was quite the spread, over 400 people! We were entertained by the Bonnie Jean and the Sisters at Heart House Band, followed by each Team presenting their cheers and chants.  That was great fun to see the team spirit of everyone with their props, moves and chants. Rowbust tuned their ukes and we sang “Takin Care of Business’. After that a photo opp.

In Lake Champlain style the beautiful calm waters quickly became extremely rough with high winds, the storm was coming in fast, pounding rain (thankfully this happened over the lunch break and not while any of us were on the water) and as quickly as it came in it left giving us back the sun, however the waters stayed rather rough.  



Now it was the finals, the first 3 sets of 3 teams did 500m races. We were the last set of 3 teams to race but because the waters were too rough and we only had to do a 400m race with the wind at our backs.  The water certainly was rougher and here we are the 3 top teams, we moved in for the Silver position with a time of 1.38.010, 1st place DHVT Sisters 1.37.970 and 3rd WonderBroads 1.39.570 - a paperclip moment.

We were presented with our medals and a beautiful pewter plate - well done ladies another great day on the water. This was topped off with delicious Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream.  Then back to the hotel to freshen up, relax and off to take in the sites of beautiful downtown Burlington and/or join the Paddles Up Party at the main stage.  

Sunday 6:30am breakfast, on the bus by 7:05am, over to another hotel to pick up some of the Peterborough team and back to the race site.  It certainly was much busier with the community teams setting up their tents. It was another gorgeous day for 200m racing. 


The BCS teams were up first.  Rowbust in the 2nd heat. We won the heat and this placed us 3rd overall, here are the times of top 4, more paperclip moments:

  1. WonderBroads 58.28
  2. DHVT Sisters 58.45
  3. Rowbust 59.48
  4. Survivors Abreast 58.85

Sarah blatantly advised us that it was a crap race, too much "spinning" and we knew it.  We had to settle down, do what we do best, good long stroke, power in the water….

The crew stayed out on the water for the Flower Ceremony.  One of the team mates from Dragonheart that morning picked over 200 sunflowers for this event vs having carnations. They were beautiful but perhaps a bit dangerous to toss, Laura was ducking rather lower to avoid contact with a sunflower head or two. It was a perfect time to remember our sisters going through the battle, we thought of June and those who lost their battle, Bruna, Melina, Gail and so many more, we will not forget their strength and courage and the memories they gave us.

There was no time between these races - lunch what lunch?

Quarter Finals we got better and placed 2nd overall - look at these times:
  1. Survivors Abreast 58.40
  2. Rowbust 58.45
  3. WonderBroads 58.90
  4. DHVT Sisters 59.28

Semi-Finals - So it was DHVT against Survivors Abreast and us against WonderBroads in 2 boat heats. Denise was doing such a great job along with Carolyn B stroking, but unfortunately was having some shoulder issues.  So Sarah in her wisdom, called on Judy our oldest member. Ya she is closer to 80 than she is to 70 and Judy rocked both races.  Here is a quote from her son Tal who was there to see Mom in action along with her 1 year old grandson and daughter in law, “Still in awe watching 20 old ladies can get him excited”. We're so proud of you Judy and you leave us in AWE of you:
  1. DHVT Sisters 59.29
  2. Rowbust 59.68
  3. WonderBroads 59.74
  4. Survivors Abreast 59.81

Man a lot of bantering back and forth with times and placing between these 4 teams. A fabulous showing for the Canadian crews.

Now the Finals with little time to spare, Sarah was working frantically to pull the final roster together, some were in and out of the boat a few times.  Rowbust against DHVT Sisters the home town host team celebrating their 10th anniversary, like no pressure.  We heard later that the announcer invited all the community teams to the shore to watch some world class racing as the last time we saw Vermont it was in Italy for the Club Crew World Championships in 2014.  Even though we were a very different crew in Vermont than was in Italy we were still representing Rowbusts World Championship team and intended to do the organization proud.  We are side by each you could hear each other breath, the anticipation was electric, then the horn blows, we dug deep, we were side by side all the way down the race course, we could hardly hear Laura or Shirley giving commands.  The crowd was so loud, this was their home team, their 10th anniversary, it was like being at the Daytona 500 but us ladies had our engines running in high gear.  Finally the Finish line and a quick HOLD HARD as the docks are right there.  The announcer couldn't call the race and then it came ROWBUST WITH A TIME OF 59.06 TAKES THE GOLD!!!!  DHVT SISTERS WITH A TIME OF 59.35 TAKES THE SILVER!!  WOW WOW WOW how exhilarating, this is one race none of us will ever forget. We emptied the tank.

There were tears of joy, high fives, hugs with our team mates and with the Dragonheart team. I heard even the guys shed a tear or two and perhaps lost a vocal cord or two as well. 

Off to the medals tent to receive our medals, another beautiful pewter plate, a photo opp and a request from Survivors Abreast to sing our chant … “we’re sexy and we paddle”, they love it.

Before we wrapped up our tent we had a couple of special ladies from the Vermont crew who took a shine to us as did us to them and we gave them some goodies bags filled with pins, Canadian mementos, and each received a Canadian lawn chair.  They were very touched and loved having us to their event.

Another long day ended in the Main Tent for A Beer, some crazy dancing!

We had dinner reservations at Sweetwaters in Burlington, had the entire mezzanine level. A toast of Champagne to all.  

Monday, we got to sleep in we weren't leaving til 9.  Sam took us back to the Canadian Border another route more scenic, just beautiful water ways in Vermont.  We hit the border at a busy time, lots of campers and us and of course we get pulled over for inspection.  Finally out of there with compliments that we all pack so neatly.  Then on to bumper to bumper traffic.

So to pass the time the Wharton's did their rendition of name that song and singer.   Then each of us took the mike and spoke about what the weekend meant to us.  We never have that opportunity and it was so great to hear that everyone enjoyed their experience.  

I’m trying to wrap this up I know its really long, so please bare with me for some Thank You's:
  • 1st of all our Coach Sarah, she kept us on track and focused, she knew exactly what we needed to hear and we did give her a great smile on her face at the end of both days - Thank you Sarah
  • 2nd Lauree Taylor for working out all the logistics, all those emails and planning those side trips that didn't happen, our times, our eating choices, etc. etc. Thank you Crew Manager Lauree
  • Sam our Busie, the best ever, and his beautiful personal assistant Jan, great driving, always a pleasure
  • To our tag along guys we love you, we can count on you to help out but best of all you support us
  • To those at home thanks for your support we felt your energy
  • To the Board thank you for allowing those of us less travelled to have this opportunity to have some FUN, but I’m aware those who get the opportunity to travel more had a blast thanks ladies for helping us out.

VERMONT WE'LL BE BACK!!

This is your event Captain signing off!

Anne



Post Submitted by Anne Hussey, Vermont Festival Crew Captain

0 Comments

    Author

    Rowbust

    Archives

    July 2019
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    August 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.