After a day off from racing we were rested and ready for the 500 metre races and we knew that the Aussies would be too...it was time to show them exactly what we are made of.
We raced in heat one of the BCS division and finished with a time of 2:17:64, and the Aussies came in at 2:20:64 in heat two. We wondered if they sandbagged the race by not putting everything they had in to it so they could pour it on in the final and try to take it from us. Why wouldn't we think that....we didn't do a finish in our race...we had more to give but held off a little bit, why wouldn't they?!
We pondered this possibility while we sat in the shade eating lunch and mentally preparing for our final race in world competition. It seemed to take forever as we could hear teams being called to marshaling for their races. So we sat, in the shade, and waited. Finally it was time to warm up, get a good sweat on and do our team warm up and stretch led by Char.
Soon we were called to marshaling. We knew what we had to do. It was time to lay it all out, leave it all on the water and empty the tank!
We paddled out to the start line, quiet in our boat, focused, ready. Shirley backed us in to the starting block calling on us to back paddle, or draw on the left, pry on the right...finally we were in position. The announcer calls "Attention", Laura calls "ready ready" and we snap our paddles in to the water ready to blast out of the gate...the anticipation mounting.....the announcer "stop stop stop...boat six back it up"! We held our boat in the ready ready position like coiled up cobras ready to strike as boat six got settled. Then a quick "Attention, GO!" and we were off, no longer quiet in our boat, everyone grunting through the start making every stoke count. All the way down the course the Aussies were right there beside us, we'd power it up, they'd power it up. Laura calling us to lengthen and we did, she'd call for power and we gave it everything, she called a finish and we brought our stroke rate up! up! UP! while keeping our stroke long and strong! We crossed the finish line...blew threw it...Laura called "let it run!" and we finally got a look at where everyone finished...we won! We did it! We surged in the end to secure our win! No cheers in our boat...that could wait....quietly, on Shirley's command, we paddled back to the dock, catching our breath and cooling down after a hard fought race.
Pulling in to the dock we could see Sarah running to meet us, Cheryl not far behind smiling...we did good and that's how we know!
Back on land we filed out of the marshaling area through a paddle arch started by the other BCS crews. Everyone congratulating everyone else on a great race, many of the other teams asking how we did it, how did we get so fast? Hard work! That's how we did it. And now that we've shown them the possibility we know they are coming for us...bring it on ladies! We welcome the competition! We look forward to meeting you on the race course again!
Minutes later we were called to the podium for our third and final medal presentation. In third place A Breast in a Boat, Vancouver, Canada...in second place Dragons Abreast, Sydney, Australia...in first place ROWBUST!!! The cheers in the grand stand were loud, there was Leigh..crying again! Lol! A cheer battle between our Canadian fans and the Aussie fans increasing the excitement to a frenzied state. These are the moments we'll never forget, pride exudes from each of us, we made it to the top! We believed we could do it, and we did!
After receiving our medals all the BCS teams were called to the area for a group photo and a message from the IDBF President. The organization is impressed with all of us, they will have us back in two years for the 10th IDBF Club Crew World Championships in Adelaide, Australia!
What an amazing time for us, for all of Rowbust! Thank you all for your support, love and encouragement! It means the WORLD to us, literally!
We raced in heat one of the BCS division and finished with a time of 2:17:64, and the Aussies came in at 2:20:64 in heat two. We wondered if they sandbagged the race by not putting everything they had in to it so they could pour it on in the final and try to take it from us. Why wouldn't we think that....we didn't do a finish in our race...we had more to give but held off a little bit, why wouldn't they?!
We pondered this possibility while we sat in the shade eating lunch and mentally preparing for our final race in world competition. It seemed to take forever as we could hear teams being called to marshaling for their races. So we sat, in the shade, and waited. Finally it was time to warm up, get a good sweat on and do our team warm up and stretch led by Char.
Soon we were called to marshaling. We knew what we had to do. It was time to lay it all out, leave it all on the water and empty the tank!
We paddled out to the start line, quiet in our boat, focused, ready. Shirley backed us in to the starting block calling on us to back paddle, or draw on the left, pry on the right...finally we were in position. The announcer calls "Attention", Laura calls "ready ready" and we snap our paddles in to the water ready to blast out of the gate...the anticipation mounting.....the announcer "stop stop stop...boat six back it up"! We held our boat in the ready ready position like coiled up cobras ready to strike as boat six got settled. Then a quick "Attention, GO!" and we were off, no longer quiet in our boat, everyone grunting through the start making every stoke count. All the way down the course the Aussies were right there beside us, we'd power it up, they'd power it up. Laura calling us to lengthen and we did, she'd call for power and we gave it everything, she called a finish and we brought our stroke rate up! up! UP! while keeping our stroke long and strong! We crossed the finish line...blew threw it...Laura called "let it run!" and we finally got a look at where everyone finished...we won! We did it! We surged in the end to secure our win! No cheers in our boat...that could wait....quietly, on Shirley's command, we paddled back to the dock, catching our breath and cooling down after a hard fought race.
Pulling in to the dock we could see Sarah running to meet us, Cheryl not far behind smiling...we did good and that's how we know!
Back on land we filed out of the marshaling area through a paddle arch started by the other BCS crews. Everyone congratulating everyone else on a great race, many of the other teams asking how we did it, how did we get so fast? Hard work! That's how we did it. And now that we've shown them the possibility we know they are coming for us...bring it on ladies! We welcome the competition! We look forward to meeting you on the race course again!
Minutes later we were called to the podium for our third and final medal presentation. In third place A Breast in a Boat, Vancouver, Canada...in second place Dragons Abreast, Sydney, Australia...in first place ROWBUST!!! The cheers in the grand stand were loud, there was Leigh..crying again! Lol! A cheer battle between our Canadian fans and the Aussie fans increasing the excitement to a frenzied state. These are the moments we'll never forget, pride exudes from each of us, we made it to the top! We believed we could do it, and we did!
After receiving our medals all the BCS teams were called to the area for a group photo and a message from the IDBF President. The organization is impressed with all of us, they will have us back in two years for the 10th IDBF Club Crew World Championships in Adelaide, Australia!
What an amazing time for us, for all of Rowbust! Thank you all for your support, love and encouragement! It means the WORLD to us, literally!