Manly Dragon Boat Club’s youngest members, Flynn, Ryan and Zoe. Photo: Supplied.
FROM THE MDBC
After qualifying in several categories at the AusChamps 2023 last April at the National Championships held in Albury Wodonga, the Manly Dragon Boat Club (MDBC) received an invitation from the International Dragon Boat Federation for the Senior C women and men paddlers to compete at the World Club Crew Championships in Ravenna Italy in September 2024.
The Manly Dragons needed to compete at this year’s Australian Dragon Boat Championships in Perth to confirm their spot. An enthusiastic group of 50 Manly Dragon Boat paddlers journeyed to Perth in April to compete at AusChamps 2024 at the Rowing Centre at Champion Lakes, Armadale.
Competition was fierce in every age group and every category within that age group, with strong teams from every state competing. Manly was reminded that .06 of a second is sometimes all that separates a gold medal from a silver or a bronze. However, Senior C women came away with a silver medal this year; with this in mind, training has ramped up. For the next 12 weeks, paddlers from Manly’s Senior Cs will be put through their paces with gym sessions, multiple day and night paddling sessions and rigorous testing to compete on the world stage in Italy.
Across the Premier, Senior A, Senior B and Senior C groups, MDBC coaches were pleased with the results as Manly featured in every final, but didn’t return with as many gold medals as last year. It was the young members – Flynn, Ryan and Zoe (pictured) – who competed in the mixed QLD boat that stole the show, winning the most medals. We need more young ones to join them!
To raise much-needed funds for the coaches, managers, steerers, drummers and paddlers to travel to Italy, Margaret Vote of Raine & Horne Wynnum Manly has donated a fabulous getaway holiday valued at $5,000, to be raffled.
The holiday for two people includes airfares, six nights’ accommodation at the Radisson Blue in Fiji, and tickets are only $5. Tickets are available now, and the winner will be drawn on June 15 at the Manly Dragons’ Awards Night.
