Dragonboats: the season finale!

We ended up being seeded in Division E (5th out of 5 divisions of 12 teams each) which is what we wanted and expected after only 3 months of training, not to mention only 5 guys in a mixed team. We took to the river early and came in third with a time of 3:07. Only the 1st and 2nd place finishers go on to the semi-finals along with the fastest two 3rd place. So I stayed in the results tent to wait for the other times while our coach took off to prep for her race in the Women's Division. About 30 seconds after she left they posted the times and I read the third place times as 3:03, 3:06 and 3:07...we were out. I was alone and devastated! All that hard work and we had to go home this early!?!?!? I could NOT tell my team. I made my way back to our tent to drop off my gear and went back to confirm once they posted the team names in the semi-finals. There they were...and we were not among them. Time to face the music and tell the team. It was not yet 10 o'clock but we were done. I told them I was proud of them and we all felt bad but were still happy we had done it. Our coach stopped by and got the news and said that her next race was "for us". Only one person left and the rest decided to stay and cheer on the women's teams and then head home. One guy went to get us our souvenir programs and came running back to me...he heard there had been a reporting error and they needed our captain back a the tent. Off I ran.... Turns out 3rd place finishes were 3:03, 3:07 and 3:08....we had gone from losing by one second to winning by one second and there was our name in the Semi-Finals!!!! I ran flat-out back to our tent and almost killed myself in the process...still they got the message: we made it to the semis!!! We found our coach on her way to the docks and gave her the good news. We also called back our teammate (who had made it all the way to Forest Grove) and she was more than happy to return!

So after coming down from that high, having some lunch, and checking the previous times of the teams we were racing next we had a team huddle. We were just so happy we made it this far! Only the 1st and 2nd place finishers advance to the finals. Paddle for 2nd but be happy with 4th I told them...and off we marched to the dock as the skies opened up and poured on us. I don't know where it came from or where we found it but we powered our way to hands-down 2nd PLACE FINISH!!! The high was incredible but followed by two realizations. One, we had to do this AGAIN (?), and two, our coach would be in the race right before ours so she would be heading for the finish line in one boat while we were in another heading to the start. So, we went to the tents to recharge, relax, and find an alternative. Luckily, a short while later, another member of our coach's club agreed to call for us and we headed down for the FINALS!!

With the realization that we only needed to beat ONE boat to medal the team was much more subdued while waiting to be escorted to the docks. There was some heavy wind and current fighting us at the start line and we used a lot of energy just getting all four boats lined up. It was a hectic race...we were in lane 3, and while our tiller fought hard with the current to keep us in line the river got the best of the boat in lane 1 and they sort of sandwiched the team in lane 2, pushing them dangerously close to us. My bench mate actually hit one of their paddles. But we powered through and pulled off a THIRD PLACE FINISH!

Hardware time!

Of course we stuck around for the award ceremony!!!!!

I'm pleased to report that the trophy lust of my youth is alive and well.