As we gathered on the shore for the opening address of the 2019 Regional’s, Lake Pupuke reflected the early morning sunlight, the weather perfect for good times on the water.
What was the day to bring? Would our hard work and rigorous training see us achieve our goals? There’s a ‘yes’ in that answer, an ‘almost’ and an unexpected twist.
After a first 500m heat which left room for improvement we got our groove on and were happy with the second. In the final we fought hard and took gold. It’s been a few years since Busting has held the 500m trophy and a great prize to celebrate.
After returning good times in the heats, less than half a second separated us and our sisters in the 200m final giving us the silver in an exciting and very close race.
The last race of the day is the 2000m and fatigued as we may be we know we have to channel that interval training, call on that final reserve of energy and give it our all. We put in a well paced race but was it good enough? For a short time it appeared that it was, but gremlins in the timing system were sorted out and ultimately we got second.
A memorable Regionals for us and cause to reflect on a fantastic day of racing with our BC sisters and across the whole dragonboat community.
- Jo Hooper reporting for the team
