Three Squamish seniors have proven age is just a number after they took home gold at the international dragon boat championships in Italy.
Dawn Lecky, Wanda Bradbury and Cindy Turner competed in the 14th International Dragon Boat Federation Club Crew World Championships in the Senior C category with 17 other women over the age of 60.
Held in Ravenna, between Sept. 3 and 8, the trio’s team, False Creek Racing Canoe Club, competed in three races and brought home two golds and one silver.
World championships
“We entered three different categories; one was a two-kilometre race, and it was our first race that we did. Two kilometres can get pretty crazy because you're doing turns and so then you can get messed up with other boats,” Lecky told The Squamish Chief.
“It's pretty complicated with a 40-foot boat; it's not easy tucking or getting past somebody else.
“We did get caught up in a little bit of traffic with that race, but we ended up getting a silver medal. Our next race was our shortest one, which was 200 metres, and we got first in that and then the ultimate race that everybody says is a sort of 'champion race,' is a 500-metre race, and we ended up getting gold in that one.”
Lecky said the dates for the event were changed last minute, and the team found themselves rushing to get to Ravenna in time.
“They actually changed some of the dates of the racing. I guess they had more teams than they were anticipating, so they had moved the start of the long races up a couple days,” she said.
“So we bought tickets with the idea we had a couple days, and we'd travel from Rome because Raveena is on the inside of the boot and up near the top. Then we found out they've moved the race dates up a couple of days.
“We were basically just running from the plane to the trains to get to the next station. I thought I was in The Amazing Race. It was just one thing after the other getting there, but then once we were there and got on the course we had two different practice days to get used to the boats.”
Train hard
In preparation for the world championships, Lecky said that she has found herself feeling fitter than ever.
“There were at least I'd say five or six of us that had never competed at that level, I know I've never been to the worlds before, but it took a lot of training and it wasn't an easy walk in the park or anything,” she said.
“I started CrossFit about two years ago, and I would do CrossFit three or four times a week and then paddle three times a week.”
The team has their sights set on the Canadian Dragon Boat Championships in August 2025, although Lecky said she was hoping for more of a break after their last competition to spend more time with her family.
“I thought we sort of had some time off now but I was trying to catch up with my emails, and then I saw our first day-camp is Oct. 6. The Canadian Championship is likely one of the harder ones to make and do well in and that's next summer, so they've got the camps and everything lined up already for what we're doing for the next season,” she said.
“I know it's such a big commitment for my family so you know, I certainly have a little bit of guilt about putting myself first. For so many years, especially when you have children, you know, you just put at the bottom of the list of doing personal things.
“I have four daughters and they're all stoked for me, and everybody I talk to says, 'you're setting such a good example for your girls to keep being active.’”
To learn more about dragon boating in Squamish visit the Squamish Dragon Boat Association Facebook page.
