Write a commentGliding through the water at a tremendous pace, the racing of Dragon Boats took place along the shores of Breitbeck Park Saturday morning and into the afternoon.
The first race of the day put four teams against each other to see who could row their boat the fastest. Novelis (one of two boats) and Oswego Health both had teams in the water. The other two teams were Women on Water and ROWvenge of the Nerds. The team ROWvenge of the Nerds claimed first place in that race with Novelis placing second. The time difference between first and fourth places that race was less than twenty seconds but those twenty seconds are a lot of time in a boat as long and as heavy as the Dragon Boats.
Boats were manned by volunteers taken from employees if they were from a business and friends of the teams. Some were rookies and others were veterans of the annual event. David Murray, an employee of Oswego Health, was back for his third race this year. Murray commented that the racing was great fun. Murray told a story of the 2015 races and the conditions that they have had to race through in the past. “...the race was moved up from September because of weather concerns.” Last year the race had to be moved to the river because the water was too choppy on the lake and it had been raining. The choppy water and a mistimed victory celebration had caused one boat to flip. It seems that moving the date of the event this year was the right call to make. The weather this year was sunny and warm, and the lake was calm and smooth. This is lucky for Jim Pickett, another employee of Oswego Health, who was taking part in the race for the first time. He had volunteered for the boat crew at a department staff meeting when the group was looking for people to row their boat. He agreed with his colleague’s comments on the nice weather and regarded the whole event as a “fun place to be.”
Structured into heats, with each heat having numerous races, the teams rowed with all their might trying for the best time to get past the finish line. Victors emerge from the challenges via eliminations based on time scores. The races are great fun to watch. You can see the determination and effort the crews are pouring into their task. It is a testament to teamwork and working like a well-oiled machine. One mistake can send a crew into to water or veering off to the left. The drive they put forth into the day would not diminish over time no matter how many times they raced. One Novelis Rower participated with both of the company’s boats and ended up rowing six races.
With all the fun to be had, why not join a crew or make your own next year?
