Monica Wilcox
Lennox Head’s Rainbow Dragon team has returned from the Australian Dragon Boat Championships in Canberra with some close finishing times, two bronze medals and an invitation to race at the 2020 International Dragon Boat Federation’s Club Crew World Championships in France.
Rainbow Dragons Women’s B (50+yrs) 20s crew qualified for this invitation-only international competition based on their AusChamps 2019 results.
In the 500 metres races Rainbow Dragons senior B (50+yrs) mixed finished seventh, and the women’s 20 crew won a bronze medal.
In 200m racing the senior B-mixed team finished one better in sixth, while the senior B-women’s team won another bronze.
As well as participating with the club team, eight Rainbow Dragons were selected for the Far North Coast regional team, which represented New South Wales in the state-versus-state competition. The women’s 10s team also won a bronze medal.
Now, the club has to make the decision on whether it will accept the invitation to compete at the 2020 Club World Championships. If the invitation is accepted, the club will be looking for 20 strong women to train hard to first compete at the AusChamps in Sydney in April 2020 before they head off to France in August.
Two Queensland women’s B-teams were place-getters at the 2018 Club World Championships and recently Rainbows Dragons defeated both these club teams at local regattas.
So there is room for international optimism.
