Day One saw a supremely powerful dsiplay, Masters Women blew their competitors off the course with a massive 21 second victory in the 2000m race today in Macau. A wonderful start, and they just kept getting better and better with each stroke, powering past all in front of them. The Canadian team who started just behind BRD, just couldn't keep up the pace, and were left in BRD's wake! Well done ladies.

BRD also medaled in two other races, along with a close 4th and solid 5th.

The Grand Masters Mixed finished just .32 of a second behind one of the German teams to pick up an excellent 2nd. They battled hard all the way and we had to wait a while to confirm the result. Watch out over the next couple of days - they can smell a gold!!

Grand Masters Open finished 3rd in a solid display.

The Masters Mixed team passed four competitors in their race and were looking odds on for a medal, but when the results came out, they finished just a couple of seconds behind first place, and .51 of a second behind third - oh so close.

Grand Masters Women put in a solid effort, not being passed, but they were not able to get past anyone else. They finished 5th.

Unfortunately for Masters Open, due to the fact that both Masters and Grand Masters Open 2000m race was held at the same time, and with half the Masters team coming from Grand Masters, we had to scratch our Masters team prior to the race start.

The medals kept coming in on day two, with four (4) bronze medals from 5 events, and an agonisingly close 4th - by just .31 of a second!!

No standout crew today, all good solid performances. In the morning, all mixed teams won Their respective heats to qualify for the grand final directly, without the need for a semi. Great work considering it was another hot and humid Macau day.

First final saw the Grand Masters Mixed push hard, to finish third in a hotly contested final. Eight teams contested this event overall.

Premier Mixed (Small Boat) - looked a little out of place with our team being a whole lot older than the others - but they performed brilliantly to pull off another third. Eleven teams from 5 countries competed in this category. I don't think their combined age would've added up to ours!

Masters Mixed, qualified fastest and were looking to capitalise on this, but the Canadians and Germans once again got the better of us, just pipping us on the finish line. Another third! Ten teams in this event.

Grand Masters Open paddled three heats and placed third in all three, paddling with only 18 men - and gained third position overall. Well done guys.

Grand Master Women won their heat over other Grand masters teams in their heat - but lost to a junior team, the only one in the comp, therefore combined in with the Grand Master Ladies. They were told they were through to the grand final, without a semi - the girls were relaxing when they got called to paddle in the Semi. Fortunately, after much to do, we were able to get a crew on the water within a few minutes. Problem was, we didn't have a sweep or drummer.

Long story short - they finished 2nd in their semi and qualified for the final. The ladies were all pumped and ready to go for the final, with 60m to go they were well placed, but unfortunately got overran and got pipped for third by .31 of a second - once again, oh so close!!

So a very bronze day for BRD today - but great work none the less, now with seven medals overall at the halfway point.

Another hot and sweaty day on day three, but more great results for BRD.

Once again Masters Ladies burnt up the Macau course to to snatch Gold on the line in the 200m final. That last surge was perfectly timed to push the women past the Canadians and into the gold medal position. It was basically a photo finish and there was great debate between supporters of each team as to who surged at the right time! After a tense few minutes, the final result was posted and there were tears of joy for BRD as they were confirmed winners.

The supporters formed a guard of honour to welcome back the girls and emotions and tears flowed some more. Well done ladies - can they make it three in a row?

In another excellent result, Masters Mixed battled hard to claim a Silver in the 500m final. With a few people backing up from Grand Masters Mixed, they performed exceptionally well.

Earlier in the day, first up Masters Open took on the might of the Russians, Germans, Canadians, Chinese in the 200m. BRD was in a fast first heat and finished a credible 4th in 48.34 secs. Having to go into the semis to qualify for the major final, BRD ramped it up and finished first in the semi.

Amazingly, BRD recorded exactly the same time in the final (48.34) as they did in the heat and finished 5th overall, which was a great result.

In the only other division of the day, Grand Masters Mixed qualified for the 500m final comfortably in their heat. No need for a semi for them. They were confident going into the final looking good for a medal. But it wasn't to be, as they ended up a disapointing 5th in the final.

Day four and our Masters ladies weren't going to let anybody stop them from getting their trifecta and today they powered their way to their third Gold medal of the meet.

A clean sweep. They didn't have it all their own way though, they had to battle hard right to the last millimetre as the came home - just ahead of the second.

Grand Master Men peformed excellently - over three heats - finishing 2nd in the first heat, a disappointing 3rd in the second - then they powered past the Canadians to win the last heat. A Silver medal just behind the Canadians and in front of Burleigh.

In the other races, Grand Masters Ladies, finished third in their heat and had to go through to the semi final - even though their time was better than all the other teams in heat two by two seconds!! I think some rule needs to be changed there!! In the semi, they battled hard but were just pipped at the post for second, and unfortunately, didn't make it through to the major final. In the Minor Final they paddled with 18, to help rest others for the Master Ladies final - and finished 2nd by a fraction of a second. It's been that way for these ladies all meet - next time!!

Masters Men were once again pitted against the Russians in their heat and paddled more like a training run to rest up the Grandies backing up from earlier heats. Gary Q had a plan, as always, and that was to nail it in the semi and give it a crack in the major final. Plan worked to a T as Masters won the semi and qualified for the major final. Masters were able to better their semi time, but it wasn't enough to get over the others, but they finished a credible 6th.

So complete result are:-

Premiers
- Mixed- - 200m-Bronze

Masters (Senior A)
- Open - 200-6th, 500-5th, 2000-scratched
- Women - 200-Gold, 500-Gold, 2000-Gold
- Mixed- 200-Bronze, 500-Silver, 2000-4th

Grand Masters (Senior B)
- Open - 200-Bronze, 500-Silver, 2000-Bronze
- Women - 200-4th, 500-6th, 2000-5th
- Mixed - 200-Bronze, 500-5th, 2000-Silver

So the final medal tally was 3 Gold (guess Who), 3 Silver and 5 Bronze.

An excellent performance overall, BRD's best ever at a Worlds! Every single paddler is coming home with a medal - all 73 of them!!!

Well done team!!

Click here to see the latest calendar of events - June, 2010 through to May, 2011.

Brisbane River Dragons (BRD), Australia’s premier Dragon Boating club, has managed to secure an unprecedented 3rd consecutive Australian Dragon Boat Australian Club Crew Championship at the National titles held in Adelaide from the 23rd to the 25th April, 2010.

With over 2,000 paddlers from around Australia descending on Adelaide, it was always going to be a tough ask for BRD to continue their winning ways and retain their National title. Local South Australian teams had been training extra hard to make sure they benefited from their home ground (water) advantage.

For day one of the championship, 500's were the order of the day and with racing kicking off at 8am and finishing at 5pm - it was a long day, with plenty of paddlers having to back up across the various categories. Some paddlers paddled up to 15 races in the day.

BRD managed to get in all the finals, with the exception
of Premiers Open. However, medals were lean - with Masters Mixed achieving the only gold medal of the day with impressive performances across the day. Masters Open and Masters Ladies both finished with silver after gallant performances from many paddlers backing up from Premiers and Grand Masters.

A much improved day across the board for BRD on day two. With the splash and dash of the 200m, backing up wasn't as onerous as day ones 500m.

BRD did exceptionally well in getting all teams to the finals or semi finals in the first heats. No repechages for them!

After the semi finals, only one team missed out on the major finals, and that was Premiers Open, who with only 5 Premier men, finished a mere 0.2 of a second outside a place in the major final - from about 30 teams competing in that division.

BRD finished the day with five medals in all – two gold, two silver and a bronze. Masters once again leading the way, but one of the best results for the day, was a bronze by the Premier Ladies.

Masters Mixed continued their golden run with another commanding victory, comprehensively out paddling 17 other teams. Masters Open made up for their silver yesterday, with powerful display in the final to bring home gold.

On the third and final day, BRD were back to their best with powerful displays across the board in the 2,000m event, confirming themselves as the premier Dragon Boat club in Australia by securing their 3rd consecutive Australian Club Crew Championship. Masters once again achieved gold medals, with Grand Masters achieving two silvers. The Premier Open team, with only four actual Premier men, the rest from Masters and Grand Masters, finished a brilliant fourth behind powerful teams from Pacific Dragons (NSW) and Ice Dragons (ACT)

Once again a day of backing up by many paddlers reinforced the wonderful team spirit that is BRD.

It was this sort of performance that epitomised the efforts that all paddlers went to over the three days and why BRD remain the Australian Club Crew Champions. BRD are now looking forward to see what they can do at the World Club Crew Championships in Macau, China, in July, 2010.

Overall Results

500m
Premier Open – Semi Finalists
Premier Women – FInalists
Premier Mixed – FInalists

Masters Open – Silver
Masters Women – Silver
Masters Mixed – Gold

Grand Master Open - FInalists
Grandmaster Women –FInalists
Grandmaster Mixed –FInalists

200m
Premier Open – 2nd Minor Final
Premier Women – Bronze
Premier Mixed – 4th

Masters Open – Gold
Masters Women – Silver
Masters Mixed – Gold

Grand Master Open - Silver
Grandmaster Women –4th
Grandmaster Mixed –4th

2000m
Premier Open –4th
Premier Women – TBA
Premier Mixed – 6th

Masters Open – Gold
Masters Women – Gold
Masters Mixed – Gold

Grand Master Open - Silver
Grandmaster Women – 4th
Grandmaster Mixed – 4th

Dragon boating is Australia’s fastest growing sport and continues to gain great interest from paddlers of all ages. BRD is looking for paddlers of all ages and abilities to continue the phenomenal growth of the sport and of our club. In particular, we are looking for Premier Men and Lady paddlers (18 – 40) – so come along for a free Come ‘n Try day. BRD are having a celebratory BBQ this Saturday the 1st May, 2010 - all welcome.

In another fine performance across the board, Brisbane River Dragons has topped the medal tally count at the 2010 Queensland State Championships.

On a wet and windy weekend, where Cyclone Ului threatened to blow us off the water, BRD was faced with strong challenges across the weekend.

On Saturday, the 500m Open and Women’s events were all tightly contested, with BRD winning three of the six finals and close seconds in the other three events. It was the Women’s and premier teams that showed Gold as Premier Women, Masters Women and Premier Open all won their respective finals. It was especially pleasing to see the Premier teams do so well, and the Masters Women’s were simply too powerful for all comers.

Masters Open and Grand Masters Open were both pipped on the line by resurgent Burleigh teams. Both teams were in the lead with 30m to go, but to Burleigh’s credit, they were able to reel us in. Well done Burleigh. Grand Master Women finished a gallant second to a strong Currumbin team.

Sunday saw the Mixed events – 500m in the morning, followed by 2,000m in the afternoon. BRD’s Master crews were stung in action by their close losses on Saturday and Masters Mixed were way to good in both the heat the final – powering away to a comfortable Gold!

Grand Masters Mixed Typhoon Blue didn’t have it all their own way though, being beaten for 2nd in the heat, with BRD Grand Masters Typhoon Red, qualifying for the final also, not far by in 4th. In the final, the Typhoon Blue team had to hold off another fast finish from Burleigh – this time holding on to claim victory by a mere .09 of a second! The Typhoon Red team were also flying home, and just missed out on a Bronze medal. Well done guys.

In the Premier Mixed, BRD qualified fastest so were straight through to the final without the need to go via the repechage. TeWaka had been threatening all weekend, and they didn’t let go of this one – claiming a lead mid way through the final and they never let go. BRD challenged, but TeWaka just powered up that bit more – in the end winning by just over half a boat.

The 2,000m races Grand Masters Blue take out silver, with Red finishing in fourth. Masters once again dominated, finishing first, with Premiers coming in third.

Overall Results

Premier Open – 500m – Gold
Premier Women – 500m – Gold
Premier Mixed – 500m – Silver, 2,000m - Bronze

Masters Open – 500m – Silver
Masters Women – 500m – Gold
Masters Mixed – 500m – Gold, 2,000m - Gold

Grand Master Open - 500m – Silver
Grandmaster Women – 500m – Silver
Grandmaster Mixed – 500m – Gold, 2,000 - Silver

Photos of the event – courtesy of Sherwin Francis, can be found at http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/brisbaneriverdragons/photos/album/435447907/pic/list

Premier Open – Gold!!

BRD had numerous teams participating in the Panamuna Sprint back in January.

All performed very well. Here's a pic of some of the ladies who attended.

Following are known Regatta event dates. Dates may change, so keep an eye out

22nd-25th April, 2010 - AusDBF - Nationals - Adelaide
3rd July, 2010 - TeWaka, Corporate Regatta - Colmslie
28th July, 1st August, 2010 - IDBF, World Club Crew Championships, Macau

The Brisbane River Dragons have officially been named the Australian Club Crew Champions for 2009. The Champion Club Trophy was presented to our club by the President of AusDBF on May 23.

And again, a job well done to all paddlers, sweeps, drummers, helpers, coaches, captains for an excellent campaign. All of it culminated with BRD placing in all but one event on the final day. And a special congrats to the Juniors who improved with every race and will be a force to contend with in the future!

This has qualified BRD to attend the 2010 World Club Crew Championships in Macau.

BRD rocked at the States on the weekend. BRD won in every 500m category except one! Almost completed another clean sweep like we did at States in 2006/2007 at Hinze Dam. Well done all BRD members and supporters.