What. A. Weekend.
On the weekend of June 24, we raced at the 29th annual Concord Pacific Vancouver Dragon Boat Festival, the biggest dragon boat festival in North America hosted by Dragon Boat BC, with approximately 200 teams and over 150,000 paddlers! The festival kicked off on Friday night, June 23, with an opening ceremony and charity races. Along with the races throughout the weekend, there was non-stop entertainment on the main stage, vendors from various companies, and activities all around Concord Pacific Place and Creekside Park.
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| PC: (Ed Nguyen Photography) |
The UBC Thunderbirds Dragon Boat SC got up early on Saturday morning, mentally focused for a full-day of racing. We were participating in the Mixed Division as UBC TSC, and merged with our AMS team, UBC Thunder, for the Women’s and Open Division. We met at the racers village of the event, unpacked, and warmed up for our first race of the day. On Saturday, we had a total of 2 Mixed Division races, 2 Women’s Division races, 1 Open race, and 1 Women’s Guts & Glory race (2km). Teams would have to qualify for the Women’s Guts & Glory by being the top 12 Women’s teams of the festival. Similarly, mixed teams would have to qualify for the Mixed Guts & Glory by being the top 18 teams of the festival.
On Sunday, we kicked off with a Women’s Semi-finals heat, which everyone in the team (including guys) showed up early for! Sunday was the day that mattered the most, the day of “final” races. We qualified for the Mixed Division Competitive A Championship, Women’s Competitive Championship, Open Championship, and the Mixed Guts & Glory (2km).
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| PC: (Ed Nguyen Photography) |
The Mixed Division Competitive A Championship, was one of the most exhilarating races of the weekend with the top 6 teams finished within 1 second, where we came in 4th overall. Our Women’s crew came in 3rd place overall in the Women Competitive Championship, and 2nd place overall in the Women’s Guts & Glory. Our Open crew came in 5th place overall in the Open Championship. Finally, we came in 4th place overall in the Mixed Guts & Glory.
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| PC: (Ed Nguyen Photography) |
It was stated before, and it is going to be stated again: What. A. Weekend. We gave it everything we got, and paddled our hearts out. With that being said, this is not the end, the road to the Canadian Dragon Boat Championships continues! Next up: Harrison Dragon Boat Festival on July 22nd!
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| PC: (Ed Nguyen Photography) |
Saturday Results
Mixed Division Qualifiers Heat:
| 1. | UBC Thunderbirds SC | 2:03.151 |
| 2. | Pemberton Bald Eagle | 2:10.024 |
| 3. | Dragon Hybrids | 2:19.233 |
| 4. | ShangLong Dragon Boat Team | 2:20.968 |
| 5. | Bridge City Blitz Gold | 2:21.219 |
| 6. | EDBRC River Rats | 2:30.845 |
| 7. | MT Promises | 2:44.976 |
Mixed Division Heat 2:
| 1. | FCRCC Premier | 1:55.151 |
| 2. | UBC Thunderbirds SC | 1:55.218 |
| 3. | DZ Premier | 1:55.551 |
| 4. | UBC Thunder | 2:01.324 |
| 5. | Northwind | 2:02.658 |
| 6. | Cal Dragon Boat | 2:04.076 |
Women Division Heat 1:
| 1. | UBC Thunder Women | 2:11.695 |
| 2. | VIP GD 50+ Women | 2:17.267 |
| 3. | VIP GD 60+ Women | 2:21.938 |
| 4. | Despirit Housewives | 2:30.247 |
| 5. | Abreast with FORT-itude | 2:31.364 |
| 6. | Northern Spirit | 2:31.581 |
| 7. | Oyster Point Dragons Women | 2:31.748 |
| 8. | SAINTS PRESERVE US | 2:44.661 |
Women Division Heat 2 (Competitive):
| 1. | CIBC OWL 48 | 2:09.151 |
| 2. | FCRCC Premier Women | 2:09.535 |
| 3. | UBC Thunder Women | 2:09.602 |
| 4. | Wasabi Force | 2:11.821 |
| 5. | VIP GD 50+ Women | 2:15.875 |
| 6. | Pemberton Hens & Chicks | 2:16.308 |
| 7. | FCRCC Sr C Women | 2:18.210 |
| 8. | FLCC Fast & Furious | 2:19.612 |
Open Semi-Final:
| 1. | Jose’s Taco Truck | 1:56.992 |
| 2. | UBC Thunder | 1:57.542 |
| 3. | Jose’s Burrito Boat | 2:04.082 |
| 4. | Huge Fish | 2:04.532 |
| 5. | Dragon Zone DH Thunderbreaker | 2:04.683 |
| 6. | Los Angeles Racing Dragons | 2:06.551 |
| 7. | Ripple Effect Dragon Boat Team | 2:10.855 |
| 8. | Concord Pacific Flying Dragons | 2:12.524 |
| 9. | Dogwood Nothin Dragon Red | 2:18.546 |
Women’s Guts & Glory (2km):
| 1. | FCRCC Premier Women | 10:46.183 |
| 2. | UBC Thunder Women | 10:52.852 |
| 3. | CIBC OWL 48 | 10:55.214 |
| 4. | Wasabi Force | 11:13.245 |
| 5. | Pemberton Hens & Chicks | 11:32.273 |
| 6. | VIP GD 50+ Women | 11:43.924 |
| 7. | FLCC Titanium | 11:46.099 |
| 8. | FCRCC Sr C Women | 11:46.446 |
| 9. | EDBRC – TSUNAMI | 11:49.909 |
| 10. | WAM Women | 11:53.386 |
| 11. | FLCC Fast & Furious | 11:55.192 |
| 12. | Bridge City Team Velocity Blue | 11:57.086 |
| 13. | Wasabi Impact | 11:57.501 |
| 14. | VIP GD 60+ Women | 11:59.510 |
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| PC: (Ed Nguyen Photography) |
Sunday Results
Women Division Semi-Final (Competitive/Recreational A):
| 1. | CIBC OWL 48 | 2:11.028 |
| 2. | UBC Thunder Women | 2:12.896 |
| 3. | FCRCC Sr C Women | 2:21.555 |
| 4. | FLCC Titanium | 2:24.141 |
| 5. | Bridge City Team Velocity Blue | 2:25.042 |
| 6. | Pemberton Hens & Chicks | 2:25.409 |
| 7. | VIP GD 60+ Women | 2:26.076 |
| 8. | Saggin’ Dragons | 2:32.866 |
Mixed Divison Semi-Final (Competitive A/B/Recreational A):
| 1. | UBC Thunderbirds SC | 2:01.294 |
| 2. | Dreadnought | 2:01.644 |
| 3. | Cal Dragon Boat | 2:10.420 |
| 4. | San Francisco Dragon Warriors | 2:10.636 |
| 5. | Bridge City Blitz Blue | 2:12.121 |
| 6. | Team LifeScan | 2:13.423 |
| 7. | Save on Food Dragonslayers | 2:13.773 |
| 8. | VIP GD 50+ mixed | 2:18.845 |
Open Championship:
| 1. | Jose’s Taco Truck | 1:54.505 |
| 2. | FCRCC Premier | 1:55.623 |
| 3. | LATITUDE 48 PADDLING CLUB OC20 | 1:55.757 |
| 4. | DZ Premier | 1:55.807 |
| 5. | UBC Thunder | 1:56.824 |
| 6. | Jose’s Burrito Boat | 1:57.792 |
| 7. | EDBRC Got Gainz | 2:01.829 |
| 8. | Cal x UCSD | 2:02.707 |
| 9. | Huge Fish | 2:03.614 |
Women’s Competitive Championship:
| 1. | CIBC OWL48 | 2:02.213 |
| 2. | FCRCC Premier Women | 2:04.032 |
| 3. | UBC Thunder Women | 2:04.933 |
| 4. | Wasabi Force | 2:08.520 |
| 5. | VIP GD 50+ Women | 2:12.006 |
| 6. | FCRCC Sr C Women | 2:12.690 |
| 7. | FLCC Titanium | 2:15.143 |
| 8. | FLCC Fast & Furious | 2:15.844 |
Mixed Division Competitive A Championship:
| 1. | DZ Premier | 1:54.774 |
| 2. | FCRCC Premier | 1:55.008 |
| 3. | CIBC One West | 1:55.058 |
| 4. | UBC Thunderbirds SC | 1:55.625 |
| 5. | Dreadnought | 1:55.675 |
| 6. | LATITUDE 45 PADDLING CLUB OC20 | 1:55.759 |
| 7. | UBC Thunder | 2:00.080 |
| 8. | EDBRC Got Gainz | 2:03.366 |
Mixed Guts & Glory (2km):
| 1. | Dreadnought | 9:51.780 |
| 2. | FCRCC Premier | 9:54.890 |
| 3. | LATITUDE 45 PADDLING CLUB OC20 | 9:56.260 |
| 4. | UBC Thunderbirds SC | 9:57.030 |
| 5. | CIBC One West | 9:57.420 |
| 6. | DZ Premier | 10:05.770 |
| 7. | UBC Thunder | 10:44.990 |
| 8. | Pemberton Bald Eagle | 10:51.290 |
| 9. | Team LifeScan | 10:55.430 |
| 10. | EDBRC – TSUNAMI | 10:55.910 |
| 11. | Dreadnought II | 10:57.990 |
| 12. | EDBRC Got Gainz | 10:58.800 |
| 13. | Dragon Zone DH Thunderbreaker | 11:00.090 |
| 14. | Cal Dragon Boat | 11:00.220 |
| 15. | Starbucks Waverunners | 11:08.890 |
| 16. | San Francisco Dragon Warriors | 11:24.570 |
| 17. | Northwind | 11:28.730 |
| 18. | AeroDragons Dragon Boat Club | 11:44.120 |
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| PC: (Ed Nguyen Photography) |