Henley boats bag silver medals at national championships

THE end of the dragonboat racing season finished with the National Championships at Nottingham Watersports Centre.

Crews from all over the country came together to race in 200m, 500m and 2km distances in women’s, men’s, mixed, senior and youth categories.

Henley Dragonboat and Outrigger team entered a mixed, ladies’ and men’s crew. On a bright Saturday, the 200m and 2km day, Henley fought strong in the mixed event but didn’t medal missing out by hundredths of a second.

The ladies battled against Soaring Dragons ladies in the 200m event to claim runners-up spot. Soaring in a time of 1.00.05, Henley finished in 1.00.11, just six one-hundredths of a second behind first place.

The men, combining with Powerhouse Dragons from Teesside, put in a good performance, but didn’t medal.

The last race of the day consisted of the 2km pursuit race, with boats released based on their 200m performances.

Henley mixed set off in third place behind Pink Champagne and Kingston Dragons. With only 20 seconds between boats, Henley set off in pursuit of Kingston.

Kingston kept them at bay despite Henley’s strength, and an inadvertent collision on a turn, a challenge by Henley, forced them wide and also incurred them a time penalty for the risky manoeuvre — one that cost them a trophy.

The blustery weather overnight left some crews without shelter on the Sunday as their gazebos made off into the wind. Mangled metal met them early Sunday morning where the clean-up operation was in full swing.

Sunday was a day of 500m racing. The day began with the mixed category, ladies then men. Feeling the effects of the previous day’s racing, a fired up Henley put on determined performances in all three categories, narrowly missing out on trophies bar the men who finished second in the 500m.

This was a good marker and foundation upon which to build on next season. Anyone interested in joining Dragonboat and Outrigger Racing Team should contact henley dragons@outlook.com