News from Canada
Canadian Dragon Boat Championships - July 20-24, 2023, Welland, Ontario, Canada.
IBCPC Board Member and Rowbust Team Captain Perspective - Linda Kuska
I first must CONGRATULATE all the BCS teams who came to the 2023 Canadian Dragon Boat Championships! It was a very exciting few days of racing and for many of you, the first time competing at Nationals!
BCS Standard Boat Division:
Canal Dragons Hope Floats - Welland, Ontario
Dragons Abreast - Toronto, Ontario
H2O Seincr'eau - Montreal, Quebec
Rowbust - London, Ontario
VI Paddling Flat Out - Vancouver Island, British Columbia
BCS Small Boat Division:
Two Abreast Cote-a-cote - Montreal, Quebec
I have been part of this BCS Dragon Boat racing for almost 24 years and I love ALL aspects of what the BCS teams can do!
I love getting out and padding and being with my Rowbust family because “Exercise really is Medicine!”
But I also love competition!
My team, Rowbust from London, Ontario, Canada is a team (family) that just makes it ALL work, no matter what your paddling preference is. We just want all our paddlers to get what we need from paddling, and we are happy supporting everything our team does.
For the past 13 years (except for the Covid years), Rowbust has participated in the Canadian Dragon Boat Championships (Nationals) and have been encouraging other teams to come try it out. It is a way to participate in some fair racing using all the IDBF rules, world class starting systems and to see some very good dragon boat teams from all over Canada.
For the BCS Division at Nationals, it has taken a little while to build up our division since this kind of racing is not for all teams. (But honestly......you should come out and try it!)
This year, we had 5 BCS teams in the Standard Boat Division and 1 BCS in the Small Boat Division. Since Dragon Boat Canada (DBC) can send 5 Standard Boats and 2 Small Boats in each division to Club Crew World Championships (CCWC)....we have ALL qualified to attend the next CCWC in Ravenna, Italy in September 2024!! And believe me....there was excitement from these teams knowing that they can go to Ravenna if their team chooses to go!!
At Nationals, our Standard boat BCS teams raced two (2) 500 m races, two (2) 200 m races and one (1) 2 km race.
A point system was used for each race and determined the overall winner!
VI Paddling Flat Out won Gold!!
Congratulations!
You have worked so very hard for this and are so deserving!
Rowbust won Silver.
I am so proud of my Rowbust team with what we have been through the past year.......with the death of our Coach 2 months ago.
This Silver medal means everything to us and thank you to the other BCS teams and other DB teams who supported us during this past year of her illness....your friendship means more than you will ever know!
Canal Dragons Hope Floats won Bronze.
This was your 1st time competing at Nationals....way to go!
Dragons Abreast placed 4th
H2O Seincr'eau placed 5th.
In the Small Boat Division, Two Abreast Cote-a-cote had no other BCS teams to race against, but they raced beautifully with other small boat categories. But I do hope that they come to Ravenna where there will be more competition for them!
Thank you to all the BCS teams who came to the Canadian Dragon Boat Championships and tried something new and exciting (and the medals are beautiful!!)
Linda Kuska
A VERY PROUD Canadian BCS paddler, IBCPC Board Member, Rowbust Team Captain, DBC BCS Development Chair!
