Canadian National Dragon Boat Championships
The 2011 DB Nationals took place July 1st through July 3rd at the Welland Recreational Canal, on the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario.
Six crews from FCRCC competed at the event:
- FCRCC High Performance, in Premier Mixed, Open & Women
- FCRCC Senior C, in Senior C Mixed, Open & Women
In total, there were 88 crews present, representing 28 Clubs. In contrast to the 2010 Nats at Whistler, there were (unsurprisingly!) a lot of teams from Ontario & Quebec.
But not as many crews from BC (again, not a surprise); besides us, there was a Women's Senior B crew from the Fort Langley Canoe Club, and a Premier Mixed crew from the Gorging Dragons of Victoria. There were also some crews from the Prairie provinces, and others from the Maritimes.
Overall, the racing was very intense & close - pretty much what you'd expect at the Nats!
In terms of total club points, FCRCC placed 3rd - partly because we had crews in only two of the eight divisions ... but even more due to the high level of competition. On a divisional-group points basis, the HP crews were 2nd in Premier, and the Senior C crews were 1st. Breaking that down into the specific divsions:
For the HP crews, in Premier:
- Mixed: 4th (out of 20)
- Open: 2nd (of 10)
- Women: 1st (of 12)
For the Senior C crews:
- Mixed: 1st (of 2)
- Open: 1st (of 2)
- Women: 2nd (of 2)
Some highlights:
- the HP Women winning the 500 metre Grand Final by a dragon-eyelash, 0.02 secs, in the fastest 500m Women's time of the Finals day: 2:08.33 (they also turned in the fastest 500m Women's time of the event, during the Heats the previous day: 2:06.02).
- the HP Women winning the 2K in 9:21.08, almost 20 seconds ahead of the 2nd place boat.
- the HP Open crew winning the 200m Grand Final by a dragon-nose, 0.20 seconds, in the second-fastest 200m time of the event: 44.92 secs (and with 5 of the 6 boats finishing in a 1.7 sec span)!
- two full sets of Senior C crews entered: ours and the ones from the Quinte-Pickering Heat of Ontario; true, it was only two ... but that's 100% more than 2010!
- the Senior C Open crew starting last (9th) in the 2K, passing the other Senior C Open crew right in the final turn, and then on the final 500m leg catching & passing a U23 crew (it was a combo-division race: Open Senior A/C & Mixed U23), and almost passing another U23 crew at the finish line - and placiing 7th on corrected time with an excellent 10:10.22.
- seven of the Senior C Women doing two back-to-back 2Ks: the Women's & then the Open - not bad for a bunch of ... (well, perhaps safer not to complete that description!).
- the Senior C crews proudly bringing home two sets of Gold medals & one Silver set ... and the Senior C Canadian Champions 2011 banner!!
- Fort Langley's Fast & Furious Women (coached by FCRCC Member Ben Lee!), placing second in Senior B.
The full results are here and here on the Dragon Boat Canada web site (use the 2nd set for Friday's races - the 2K races that day are not in the "full set").
For some pictures, check out Ben Lee's Lethal Weapon photo site, DB Canada's photo gallery, and this gallery (by a "J Ho"). Some videos are here & here.
And a big FCRCC Hip-Hip-Ho!! shout goes out to the FLCC & Gorging Dragons folks - we really appeciated hearing your Wet Coast cheers, after every race, amongst all those Central Canada voices!
The Welland Canal race site
Flat & clean water, minimal currents & waves (only wind-related), wide fully-buoyed lanes, floating start-line marshall docks for tail-hold starts, almost instant results, the racers' tents set up right beside the race course along the flat banks of the waterway, ...
If you've never raced there, and someday get a chance to, don't hesitate even a moment!
Take a look at it in Google Maps or Earth (use "Humberstone Rd & Canal Bank St, Welland, Ontario" as the location, and you'll also get a very good sense of the whole site & race course, using Street View along the Canal Bank St side):
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The site is at the south end of the Welland Recreational Waterway, which is a branch of the Welland Canal, created when a new section of the canal was built eastwards of this section in the 1970s - this section then being cut in two at Humberstone & Townline Tunnel Roads. Accoding to some local people, the City of Welland is really only just beginning to exploit the possibilities of such a unique waterway.
And it'll get better too - Toronto is hosting the 2015 Pan-Am Games, with the WRW being the location of all paddling/canoeing & open-water swimming events. While Dragon Boat competitions are not listed in the official list of the Games' sports (probably for much the same reasons they're not an Olympic sport either), we can always hope (& lobby The Powers That Be!) for a demo event ...
The only negative to the WRW site is that there can be gusty cross-winds - figure on flat land all around the site for many miles, bordered by two big cold lakes (Erie & Ontario), then factor in the land-heating-in-the-sun daytime winds (& sudden thunder storms!) that the Niagara Peninsula experiences, especially in Summer. And there's the temperature & humidity, too ... 28°C+, with the Humidex at 33°C+, over the Nats weekend!
And, oh yeah ... lots of ice & snow in Winter ...
But still, it's a wonderful place for DB - and flatwater canoe/kayak - racing!
We can only dream of a race site that nice here!