The postponed date for Lionsclub drew a smaller crowd than usual with only 15 teams entering and no sign of the army, police or fire brigade… sorry ladies!.

Typhoon Tigers,

The Twist

The postponed date for Lionsclub drew a smaller crowd than usual with only 15 teams entering and no sign of the army, police or fire brigade… sorry ladies!   With only 4 club crews entering, the organisers decided on only a 2 boat final!  This was an attempt to spice things up and make the club crews prove their worth.   And that's exactly what happened.  All club crews fought hard to out do one another in order to guarantee a place in the finals.   It was an emotional rollercoaster for everyone!

The Qualifying Races

Bravehearts threw down the gauntlet with a time of 1:10 in the 1st round.   That proved to be a hard act to follow as Raging Dragon came in at 1:14.  Our first draw was against Hurricane Tigers who have been looking stronger the ever.   They were managed to keep up with our boat during the racing start but we pulled away in the lengths and extended our lead further at the finish.  Hurricane Tigers finish with 1:17 whilst we crossed the line with 1:10 and only a split second behind BH.  As it stood at the end of the 1st round, only BH and TT would qualify.

The 2nd round saw slower times from both BH and TT at 1:11 and 1:13 respectively.   With everything to fight for, RD stepped it up to match both BH and TT at 1:10 but only marginally behind TT.  We were safe for another round.

With the 3rd and final qualifying round, RD went for broke and set a new best time of 1:09!   BH were keen not to be out done and responded quickly by slashing 5s off their fastest time down to 1:05!  This left TT in 3rd place and ring side seats to watch the final as spectators!   There was no way we were going to settle for that!  We came to Lionsclub for a shot at the title and missing the final was not an option!   With our backs to the wall, we came out fighting.  A fast pace is just what we needed but the power didn't drop as we paddled unrelentingly until our shoulders burnt and we used every ounce of energy we had left.   That valiant effort was enough to shave 3s off our best time down to 1:07.  We did it, we had made to the finals!

The 2nd Twist!

But there was to be another twist.  We were way ahead of our racing schedule that the organisers decided to include another qualifying round, another chance for RD to make it to the finals, another chance for us to be knocked out!   We were first to race and came back with a disappointing time of 1:16.  With nothing more we could do, we were at the mercy of RD.   With nothing to loose, there was no doubt RD that went all out again but fell short at 1:11.  Surely, we had knocked RD out (again!) for good?

The 3rd Twist!

There was to be yet another twist!  The organisers explained that the intention was always to go with a 4 boat final.   They only told us about the 2 boat final so that we would raise the level of competition.  It certainly did that, and it was about to be raised again for the final.   The rules were relaxed as drummers became optional, our own paddles were allowed to be used and the maximum number of paddlers on the boat was raised from 16 to 20.

The Finals

Keen to defend their title for the 2nd time, BH powered through their racing start to take an early lead leaving TT and RD side-by-side and neck-and-neck.   Eager to make up the difference, both teams gave everything they had but it was RD who began to pull away leaving us in 3rd place.  Despite one last ditch effort for the final, the order remain that way with BH as winners with 1:05, RD as runners-up with 1:06, TT in 3rd place with 1:07 and HT in 4th place.

Disappointment

It is disappointing not to have won.  But I could have accepted 2 nd place as BH are a very strong team consisting of paddlers with up to 10 years experience from Thames and Kingston who are the 3rd and 4th best teams in the country!   There is no disgrace in loosing to them.  But we should never have come 3rd behind RD, definitely not at 250m.  RD did have paddlers from the GB and Aussie national team for additional firepower.   But I still do believe we are the better team and should have taken them.  I know we were better than the way we paddled and it is disappointing knowing we fell short of our potential.

Reflection

Although things didn't go well in the finals, I was impressed with our 3rd race.  Everyone was really fired up with the hunger to win and that's what drove the team to slash our best time from 1:10 to 1:07 when it really mattered.  It really goes to show how much the mind plays in physical performance.

Going Forward

You learn a lot more from loosing than you do from winning.  A lot of good can come from bad.  We need to identify our weaknesses and turn them into strengths.  It's not such a bad thing if you are feeling disappointed and it could be a good thing if your emotions are running high.   Let's take this to training with us and use it to drive us to work harder and become stronger.  Maybe this is the wake up call we need!

With 5 weeks to go before BDA Peterborough, let's treat this as a learning experience and use it motivate us in training.   BDA Peterborough is our chance to redeem ourselves and prove it, not just to RD, but to the whole country that we are the better team!

 

Ping

P.S.   It was good to see all 4 club teams joining each other for food and drink and a few laughs after the race.  And it was even better to see TT win the 10 Vodka shot relay!   Well done Jez, Dhana, Kalai, Yong and Dan.  We finished the day on top!

P.S.   I want to say a special thanks to the following people (apologies if I have missed anyone out):

Drummers             -  Steven who is also our lucky charm and mascot!  Please pass on my thanks to Ada also.

Wai/Mary              -  For lending us Ada and ickle Steven - you know he's Typhoon!

Ben                      -  For rushing back from his camping holiday to not let the team down.

Jose                     -  For rushing back from the airport to join us in the afternoon.

Sam C                  -  Our ambidextrous paddler - you did a brilliant job on both sides.

Subs                     -  I really hate the making the decision with who to rotate in and out.  Thank you all for being understanding.   Also, thank you to those who helped out HT when they sat out.  I wouldn't ask you to do anything I wouldn't be prepared to do myself, I missed out on the 4th race!

Old Skool TT         -  Kin, Adrian & Pete W for still sticking by us in charity races.  And Vince for coming out of retirement.   Don't you just miss it?!  Don't you fancy some more?!

Team Line-Up

D  Steven/Ada

1  Claire  Andrew

2  Kwok    Jo

3  Alan H  Chi

4  Kin     Ping

5  Jeremy  Adrian

6  Pete W  (JC)

7  Phan    Dan

8  Ben     Alan T

9  Phil W  Sam C

10 Mel     Jose

11         Vince

H  JC