The Rainbow Region Dragon Boat Club (RRDBC) recently competed in the 2012 Pan Pacific Masters Games on the Gold Coast. The team combined with the Grafton Dragon Boat Club and some other north coast paddlers to form the team, ‘Motley Crew’, which has been training together for a few months.
In the Masters Open 500m, Motley Crew brought home Bronze with a time of 2.05.99, as did the Grand Masters Women’s Motley Crew team in the 200m, in a time of 59.01, in a nail-biting finish.
Eight members of Rainbow Dragons Abreast (a group within RRDBC for breast cancer survivors) also joined forces with paddlers from Gold Coast, Mount Warning and Tasmanian clubs to form ‘Beyond Survival’ for the Cancer Survivors’ category.
Despite incurring a 9-second penalty in their first race, Beyond Survival went on to win Gold in the 500m. The following day, they took out the Silver medal spot in the 200m. These wonderful women are inspirational to watch and the crowds onshore showed their appreciation with resounding cheers and applause.
The spirit of participation combined with the great camaraderie between all the competitors was typical of these Masters Games, held every two years.
The Rainbow Region Dragon Boat Club are based at Lake Ainsworth, Lennox Head. For more information contact Juliette Sizer on 0421 550 335.
