The first National Dragon Boat Sprint racing since COVID took place on Sunday 19 June at Albert Dock in London Docklands. It was also the first opportunity for several Wraysbury members to take part in a DBA sprint race.
It was predicted that Secklow are going to be our toughest opposition. So it was ironic to find that the pool boat we were to race in Albert Docks had been provided by Secklow, kindly providing us with their new BuK boat.
In the 200m racing, our two aggregated heat times took us into the final as the fastest crew but in those two heats we had not encountered Secklow who qualified second fastest. In the heats, we had not been challenged significantly and Secklow were in the same position. In the final, the start felt good but it was when we went into stride that we knew the boat was running well, very solid. We won comfortably for a 200m final.
And so on to the 500m racing. Again, as in the 200m heats, two heats with aggregated times determined the three major final crews with us as the fastest crew followed by Secklow and Henley.
In the final, it was just a case of listening to Dave the steersman’s calls and responding. The boat felt good and solid from start line to finish line. This time it was a much closer finish. It was only later we were told we had won beating Secklow by 0.75 sec.
It was good to be back sprint racing again and seeing faces that we had not seen in a long time. And, it was good race practice before many of the crew fly out to Sarasota for the World Club Crew Championships in July 2022.
The cobwebs have been blown away!
