The 2018 Lethbridge Dragon Boat Festival started out bright and early on Saturday morning with the Red Angels racing in the second race of the day. The women came out strong winning with their best time of the festival at 2:23.04 and proved that the ladies from CDBC and the Red Eyes were going to be some good competition in the women’s division! CDBC Crew Yahoo also put in a great first race with a time of 2:10:36 despite some timing issues and a rocky boat. Later in the day, the women squeaked into first place with a time of 2:28.03 which left them ranked first overall, and the mixed boat also came out on top as well with a time of 2:11.27. Crew Yahoo got off the water just in time before the sky opened up and everyone all got to have a rather cozy moment inside the tent waiting for the rain to let up. Unfortunately the 2K Guts’n’Glory race was cancelled due to the weather, but overall a good day was had by all.
Day two was a beautiful sunny day and started with the women getting to sleep in a bit (yay!). The Red Angels had some competition in their first race of the day in the dreaded lane 3 and took second place with a time of 2:25.98 behind the Blazing Paddles, which set them up nicely for the finals in lane 4. CDBC Crew Yahoo‘s first race resulted in a time of 2:10.68, which put them in lane 3 for the final race. By the afternoon, both teams were ready to earn some hardware and got prepared to kick some a** on the racecourse. The Red Angels had an amazing start and finish during their final race and skipped down lane 4 to victory with a time of 2:23.67 beating the competition SCS Phoenix by almost two seconds! Crew Yahoo also put in their best race of the festival and despite the disadvantage of being placed in lane 3, came out on top. Some serious power and an adrenaline filled finish pulled the crew over the finish line with a time of 2:13.60 beating out EDBRC - Got Pho? by over two seconds! Some well-deserved celebratory drinks were enjoyed with our medals in the beer gardens at the end of the day, and some of the men were pleased to be able to flex and pose with the Festival’s Fastest Time trophy.
Overall it was an awesome weekend of paddling and celebrating in Lethbridge – it’s always extra sweet coming home with DOUBLE GOLD! Congrats to all, especially our first festival paddlers. Thanks to everyone who came out and participated but an extra big thanks to Grace and Brent for steering our teams to victory!
It’s a pleasure to paddle with all of you and I’m proud to call myself a Yahoo and an Angel! Thanks to all of you for coming out to Lethbridge, and I look forward to many more festivals in the future. Paddles up!
Anna.