On May 7 the Sudden Impact Paddling Club’s junior team, Liquid Silver, competed in the 2011 Dragon Zone Junior Regatta at False Creek. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the best of weather but we still had good spirits and captured a third place finish in the A Final. We began with a seven boat 200 m sprint and placed second with a time of 1:04.77. Our second race was scheduled to be a 200 m race but after a collision with another boat we weren’t able to complete it. Our third race was the first of the 500 m races. We won a convincing first place, the closest boat trailing by nearly four seconds. This put us in the A Final, where we placed third with a time of 2:53.69. Out of the 14 teams that participated we placed third, earning ourselves $150 in “Dragon Dollars” to spend at the 2011 Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival which will be held June 11-12 at False Creek. Last year at Alcan we placed second in the Junior B Final, losing first place by less than half a second. Our goal this year is to qualify for the Junior A Final, and come home with a medal again. With a lot of training, I think this goal is in our reach. Like our coach always reminds us, we win races when we are out practicing in the rain when no one else wants to. That dedication is what makes champions. Our team practices at Cultus Lake every Monday and Wednesday from 5:45-7:30 and is open to anyone between the ages of 12-18. We are looking into having a summer program this year if there is enough interest.

After the many weeks of prep work on and off the water the day finally arrived for the 7th annual Deep Cove’s 200m Dash regatta. This was the first regatta for the season for SI Black, Blue Impact and Liquid Silver. The weather may have damped some spirits with the amount of rain by the end of the day the sun finally came out.

SI Black: Placed 1st in the Division A Consolation
Blue Impact: Placed 2nd in Division C Championship
SI Liquid Silver: Placed 3rd in Division C Championship

It was a great day to spend with the SIPC family!