With 7 weeks training under our belts, Auckland’s Busting With Life headed to Lake Rotoroa, Hamilton to participate in the Waikato Dragon Boating and Waka Ama Association Super 12 regatta. This annual, out-of-region event is the first in the regatta calendar for the team. The regatta is always a fun day (in spite of the early start) and this year did not disappoint.
Though the weather on arrival brought back memories of a very wet, rainy event the year before (not helped by our leaky gazebo - which thankfully we have now replaced!), the sun did make its way out to give us a gorgeous day for paddling. The atmosphere was buzzing, the commentators awesome, and the organizers did a great job keeping the racing on time. Well done Waikato.
For our ‘newbies’ this was the first foray into the excitement of racing. The weeks of training prior were put into practice; timing, hinge and rotate, paddles deep, focus in the boat. There was more learning as the races unfolded, dealing with the unpredictability of the wind and rolling starts. The team gelled together beautifully, improving as each of the 3 heats progressed. In the heats we raced against a variety of other divisions; mixed, men’s and women’s regional teams, as well as corporate teams. Then the final we raced against the other breast cancer survivor teams.
We weren’t the winning team on the day, with the home team Waikato Treasure Chests taking the win (well done ladies!), followed by Boobops and Taranaki, but we were proud of our efforts. Having paddled hard, worked together well and improved each race, we all came away on an exhilarated high.
These are a few comments from our newbies about their experiences of their first regatta and being part of the BWL team.
‘A fun day with great women, and a competitive spirit on the water. It’s awesome to be able to see improvements with each race. Amazing atmosphere.’ – Alaina
‘Really enjoyed Hamilton. It was a fantastic atmosphere with strong competition but everyone having a great time.’ – Paula
‘Joining the Busting With Life dragon boat team has been a great end to my year of treatment – there’s nothing like diving into the deep end of a new sport to wash away any end-of-treatment ‘what now?’ feelings. I’ve met a team of positive and friendly women and we have lots of fun and laughs on and off the water. I’m getting stronger every week, and feel like I have well and truly got my sense of adventure back.’ Rebecca
Thanks for putting on a great day Waikato. We’ll be back again next year, next season. If you think you would like to be a part of the exhilarating sport of dragon boating, check out if there’s a dragon boat club in your region. If you are Auckland based you can contact; infobwl96@gmail.com for more information.
Reporting by Katherine Waller, 17 November 2024.
