Race Schedule for Canadian Premier Women

 The following is the race schedule for Canadian Premier Women (my team), however, there are lots of talented Canadian teams competing this year. Be sure to check the Hungarian event website for live video feed of the races:

http://www.hungary2013.dragonboat.hu/

There have been some.recent changed to the schedule that have been published on thr.main site - I'm hopeful that the times are still the same. 

Wednesday July 24 (2000m)

Race # 18 @ 16h30

Last boat to start.

Thursday July 25 (1000m)

Race # 59 @ 15h10 (heat)

Race#67 @ 16h30 (semi final)

Race # 75 @ 17h50 (grand final)

Saturday July 27 (200m)

Race # 197 @ 14h40 (heat)

Race # 215 @ 16h15 (semi final)

Race # 240 @ 18h20 (grand final)

Sunday July 28 (500m)

RAce # 260 @ 11h40 (heat)

Race # 280 @ 14h30 (semi final)

Race # 298 @ 17h00 (grand final)

Szeged and a paddlers dream course

It's been a few days since my last update...

On Sunday July 21 (my mothers birthday - happy birthday mom!), the women paddled a 2km exhibition race (with turns every 500m) on the Tisza river in Szeged. This was a chance not only to check out the race course for the world championships, but to work out the inevitable kinks caused by travel, adaption to a new routine and boatmates. The race went well - we were in a heat with mens crews and we didn't come last !! Plus, we had an unofficial sub 9 minute time (8:40 ish), which is a great time for a 2km race. The officiating wasn't exactly on par with what we are used to, however, so we aren't quite sure how we finished relative to the other teams, and how quickly we finished. But... we finished.

That afternoon we ended up at the racecourse where we will be competing for the rest of the week. The course is BEAUTIFUL!!! It's got a great set up for paddlers, spectators, racers, everyone!! It really is a dream course, and I'm counting myself very lucky that I have had the opportunity to paddle on it!

Below is a picture of the course.

Below is a picture of the athletes area - where a bunch of athletes are warming up.

Today, we had two practices where we focused on our starts and our sprint pieces. Each practice gets better and better and the boat is really starting to come together. Krysta and I walked around the city a bit during our lunch break, but I have a feeling we won't be exploring much of Szeged because we are really trying to focus on practice and racing.

Our hotel - I haven't spoken to that yet. The hotel is owned by a man who used to live in Canada, and he is very happy and excited to be hosting Canadians at his hotel. He held a team dinner for us last night in his courtyard - the dinner was fantastic and very well received. The owner and his staff have been really incredible to us - providing a home away from home to the premier womens, mens and mixed crews. The hotel itself is in a rather interesting building featuring castle turrets and the like. In general, the architecture here is really quite interesting - a blend of pre-communist Autrich-Hongrie and communist style buildings - side by side. Ornate flanked by bland - really neat to see. 

That's all for now - I will post our race dates/times as I get more info.

First day of practice under our belts and litres upon litres of sparkling water

Womens premier had our first two practices today and the boat is feeling good already. We had an early morning and late afternoon practice totaling about 10 kms. Nothing too strenuous as we were using the time in the boat to flush out the jet lag, but the boat is feeling good already!

We explored the hotel surroundings a bit, but the highlight of the off time for the day involved many bottles of water. Krysta and I went grocery shopping to find veggies, fruit and meats. At the same time, we stocked up on bottled water (very unsure of whether we will be physically ok to drink the tap water). We each got a case of six two-litre bottles and brought them back to our hotel. We went to open the bottles to add our electrolyte mixes for thé afternoon practice, and it turns out we bought fizzy water. We now have a total of 24 L of heavily carbonated water lying around that we can't seem to pass off to anyone. 

I tried to use one of the carbonated waters in practice, but it exploded on me, so, no-go. It's too bad this wasn't Ottawa, because my husband would take it off our hands in an instant!! 

Anyway - more to come tomorrow. We are racing an exhibition 2km race tomorrow and then a practice at night at the race course. I'm very much looking forward to racing at the course. Apparently they have paddling starting gates that corral you in, within your lane, and then drop when the horn is blared. Different than we are used to, but should be good!

In other news, because of the weather that Ottawa has been experiencing, some of our teammates from the Galley Girls have gotten stuck in transit. Here is hoping they get here safe with all of their gear!

24 hours later and we've made it to Hungary

Ottawa - Toronto - Paris - Munich - Budapest - Szeged.

We are tired, but we are here. It's been a long haul - 24 hours of travelling all said, but we are in Hungary.

Prior to leaving, I had to print off a list of ingredients and foods that I can't eat in Hungarian - and I'm happy to say that it has helped me already. Krysta and I went for dinner tonight on the recommendation from the hotel staff who read the list and told us where we could go to get food. Super happy that I printed off the list - one thing though vegetables are pretty hard to come by - should get interesting as the weeks progress!

Well, I've been up for 36 hours so I'm going to bed. We have two practices tomorrow with the National Team - will update later with pictures and content.

Preparing for a trip across the pond...

So... it's been awhile. That tends to be a trend with me and this blog :)

This time, my next big adventure will bring me to Szeged, Hungary for the 2013 World Dragonboat Championships - I'm one of the lucky 24 who, through inhumane amounts of training, sweat, tears, torn muscles and rehab, has been selected to represent Canada on the Women's Premier National Dragonboat Team.

The final roster was released in May, 2013 and I cried when I saw my name on the list. This will be my second opportunity to represent the country that I love in the sport that I love - and I only hope that I can do both justice! The team has been put together with a group of women from Vancouver to Montreal (and parts in between) - we have had the opportunity to paddle a spring training camp together, and we intend on arriving earlier to adjust to the time, temperature and our boat colleagues. You see - blending 20 people in a boat can be a struggle, let alone when you're dealing with technique from 10 different teams (and a time/humidity change to boot).

At my last world championships in 2011, Canadian Premier did very well, with the following results:
- 2000m, 1000m, 500m, Gold
- 200m, Silver
- 500m small boat, Gold

It was a fantastic experience, however, this time around we will be the hunted (for lack of a better euphemism). Not only are other teams trying to beat us, but, you see - paddling in Hungary and in Hungarian culture is a big deal. European teams will often throw together crews of ex-Olympic paddlers - which means we will be competing against the best of the best - not to mention all the other talent worldwide that exists for this sport. For example, the Chinese teams are paid to train dragonboat, year round. And, if they bring home the gold, it's been rumored that the Chinese government will pay competitors the equivalent of one year's salary per medal.

In any case, I'm doing the final prep and getting ready to leave tomorrow. I arrive in Szeged around 7pm (Hungarian time) on Friday July 19 - expect plenty of posts from there forward.

In the meantime, have a look around the competition website - rumor has it that the competition will be broadcast live.

http://www.hungary2013.dragonboat.hu/

Incredible women's start to the 2012 Na Wahine O Ke Kai race

 All I can say is..... WOW!!!



Na Wahine O Ke Kai 2012

Home safe, sound and delayed....

 My husband reminded me the other night that I failed to blog about my return to Canada and to discuss the experience while I was paddling the big waters of Hawaii.

So... needless to say, I've returned in one piece. No shark attacks (thank God!!), no broken bones and a minimal amount of self respect lost (primarily to do with the consumption of distilled grains...).

Coming back to Canada was a bit of a whirlwhind, and I always say that after any trip, take 1-2 days off to sit and reflect on the experience. Unfortunately, this time around, I didn't have that luxury. I was back at work the next day, followed by a house sale and move on the weekend..... and a hometown race to boot. 

Since returning, I've paddled in three more races, and just came back from a grueling weekend of tryouts for the Canadian national women's premier dragonboat team. The women competing for seats in the boat are stronger this showing compared to previous years, so there is some stiff competition. My goal is to be one of the stronger contenders and make the team to compete at the World Championships in Hungary, 2013.

Here are some photos of the trip and the racing to cap things off...

 Above: A photo of part of the OPAdvantage crew practicing out of Anueanue Canoe Club in Honolulu (http://www.anuenuecanoeclub.org/) before the race. The rest of our team met us on Kauai island.

Above: A photo of the mens half of the OPAdvantage crew, somewhere around the 3-4th leg of the 41 mile race.

Above: A photo of the womens half of the OPAdvantage crew during the NaPali Challenge. I'm in seat 4.