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Published: April 17th 2008
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Winners are grinners !
But second isn't bad either, with Richard and a small but solid trophy ! Contrary to common belief, I don't actually spent all my free time in pubs, concert halls, and restaurants. I do actually still exercise! Trying to do it a bit different to Sydney though, not as much pressure anymore, just a bit more…. relaxed, if you will.
So, joined another dragon boating club, this time in Melbourne of course, so they are appropriately named
The Melbourne Flames . They are as serious as my old club in Sydney, however don’t have the headcount to make a serious dent in any competition. Well, we actually don’t have much competition in Melbourne/Victoria, so it’s not until the annual National Championships come along that we get to test ourselves (or lose anything for starters)….. So that’s how I ended up in Perth, for a quick weekend away….
So yes, they do train 3 times a week on the water, and 2/3 times per week in the gym. For me, that was usually 1/2 times a week on the water, and an absolute 0 times in the gym. Been there, done that. Am still running though, at least twice a week, but too be quite honest, that’ll do me. Getting up on a Sunday morning, after a
good night out (in the aforementioned venues) to be at training at 8am….. I think I managed to do that 3 times this season, and quite proud about that too!
But as said, there’s not a great amount of paddlers in the team, so they were quite happy with a tall lazy deadweight to come along for the Nationals.
The club went out earlier, competed in the State vs State on Wednesday, the 1000m club races on Thursday, and after that I flew in for my cameo appearance. They didn’t have much luck till then, making it into finals, but no results so far.
As accommodation was scarce, I had to share a bed…. with our Russian coach (male, and hairy). So I guess you could say that sleeping with the coach does get you into the top team!
As per usual, after not having been in a boat for a week, the first race of the day (500m mixed team) was cr@p, complete and utter cr@p. The first race usually is anyway, and we did manage to qualify for the semis at least.
As they’d scratched the men’s team for that day (not enough
blokes), it was a bit of a wait for the semis, and rest assured, the race was spot on, and won it so we moved straight into the finals!
The girls’ crew struggled, but also got to the finals. Our masters (40+ team, but mostly 50+ people) also managed to get through, and even pulling out a silver at the end of the day !
So, there it was again, another Nationals, another final. Had been 2 years for me, so as per usual the adrenaline wins it from the pain. We pulled it of, also getting a silver (winners coming from Brisbane), and more importantly beating the rookies from my old club as well (came in 4th). So, from there on, the pressure was on me, Mr Cameo, as this was the first time I think the club has won a medal in the top class (premier devision)!
The funny thing, I’ve been following to new rule to perfection: less is more! As in, better be lazy and rested, than trained up and exhausted. I should write a book about this……
Saturday was the 200m club races, the “splash and dash”. The race times are
around the 50 seconds mark, so you hardly get time to run out of breath, or make a mistake for that matter. Club competed in men’s (or better, open’s as we had 2 chicks, and 3 blokes over 50 in the boat), women’s, mixed, and masters mixed (over 40’s). Yes, made it to ALL finals again, NO, no medals this time. Very consistent though, 4 fifth places in all finals, making us the 3rd best club overall this year, also a first for the club…..
Still, have had a medal at all 3 Nationals I participated in, representing 2 clubs..... that's still a heck of a lot more than I ever won with ping-pong!!
Now, the real reason why I went to Perth, of course, was the afterparty…… you didn’t really think I’d head over all that way and not have a beer waiting for me, did you !!!! Most people in the club were not that interested, so there were only 3 of us representing Melbourne at these shenanigans. “Go West” was the theme, and trust me, people know how to dress up over here. It’s not Carnaval, but close enough.
Reasonable efforts by all on
Lycra on men....
generally, not a good look ! the dance floor, but unlike previous Nationals, this time I did not have to use the great white phone to God, or suffer on the way back home…. I’ve disappointed myself, have to admit that…..
Back to work again now, Sydney in 2 weeks……
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