Observations of a News Junkie

On Saturday, my dragonboating team – Crew 22 – took to the water at Mooney’s Bay for some racing action. It was super fun, though we kind of bombed the first race. Our downfall was our start; we were distracted by the other boats and not prepared when the gun went off. We came in third in our heat with a time of 2:29 – not great. We spent a few hours hanging around, absorbing the festival atmosphere. I caught a ride on the media boat and snapped some great shots of the other competitors.

A team celebrates their finish by splashing the caller.

Cathy Fowler screams at her team to keep up the pace to the finish line.

Gotta love the facial expressions on these guys, straining the last few metres.

For our second race in the afternoon, our team was much more focused. Once we reached the starting line, we all shut up and put our paddles in the water. Our start was 100 times better than the first one; we came out strong and in first place, keeping the pace and position for the entire 500 metres. It felt phenomenal.

Back at the dock and pumped after our second race.

We ended up with a worse time (2:32), however, probably due to shifting winds. Despite the disappointing finish and our inability to make the finals, it was a great race and we all felt pretty good about ourselves.

Crew 22 in all its glory.