Local dragon boat teams strike gold at international festival

Two dragon boat teams from Newfoundland and Labrador have struck gold at a big international festival.

The Avalon Dragon Sapphires and Rubies both paddled to victory in Sarasota, Florida this week at the IBCPC Participatory Dragon Boat Festival, an event held every four years for breast cancer survivors.

Terri Andrews, coach for the Avalon Dragons Sapphires team, said she is pleased to see that teams from Newfoundland can hold up against international competition.

"I am a very proud and happy coach today," she said.

"With eight boats in a race and over a hundred breast cancer survivor teams from all over the world, it was a very exciting two days."

The festival included many teams from Canada and the United States, as well as teams from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Italy. 

The 4,000 festival participants are people who have survived breast cancer, which Andrews said struck an emotional chord with her and the team.

"Perhaps the most moving thing was to see a sea of pink jerseys sitting together waving the flags of countries from around the globe," she said.

"Knowing that they were a part of a very exclusive club that most people can only pray they never get to join."

The teams said that conditions were excellent on the day of the races, but the competition was tough.

Working together

Julie Bettney, the stroke for the Sapphires team, said the two teams fed off of each other's energy and success.

"It was such a celebration," Bettney said.

"When the Ruby crew came in first in the very first race that we had as a team, it was so inspirational to all of us. You could see the energy level just ratchet up."

About 100 teams competed in the international dragon boat festival.

The Avalon Dragon Rubies won first place in their on Saturday morning, with the Sapphires making a dramatic comeback to place first in their race later in the day.