In April, the Canberra Ice Dragons made the annual pilgrimage to the Australian Dragon Boat Championships to compete against the top teams in Australia. The Club entered nine crews (99 paddlers) across 26
events over four days of competition. 

Racing at Melbourne’s Docklands teams competed in Opens, Women and Mixed events across the following age categories: Premier (any age),Masters (40+ years) and Grand Masters (50+ years). 

Now in their ninth season, the Ice Dragons have emerged as a dragons boating force in recent seasons, having won eight consecutive ACT State Championships and captured several medals in the Premiers and Masters
categories at the national level.

Day 2 of the Club v Club racing saw the Ice Dragons float five
crews in the 500m distance - Premier Men, Premier Women Black AND White, Masters Men and
Masters Women. Day 2 also saw the running of the mixed 2000m races that had
been postponed from day #1.

In an extremely strong result for the Ice Dragons, medals were earned in each of the categories entered, despite one of the crews having
an extremely dramatic final race.

The Masters Open team, in their first ever appearance in a
20s boat at the Australian Championships came in third place against some
strong opposition – congratulations are in order for an extremely well run
race, and we look forward to seeing what this crew can achieve in the future.

The first day of racing in Melbourne has achieved some fantastic results! On a long day full of emotion our mixed crews have bagged some great finishes. In the first time the 20s crew has been floating for the Ice Dragons, the Mixed Grand Masters made the final and pulled an extremely respectable 5th place againt some tough competion. Our Premier Mixed White crew bowed out in the semi-final - although another boat collided with theirs, they managed to still finish the race in a respectable time, almost pipping one of the other teams in the final.

Congratulations are in order for the Masters Mixed 20s team - in an Ice Dragons first, building upon their impressive result from Canberra in 2011, they picked up the Gold Medal in a tightly contested race, beating out other crews in an extremely tough race. The last 500m race of the day was contested by the Premier Mixed Black team - after rocketing away at the start, the crew held the field up until the last 100 meters, when they were overtaken by an extremely strong Pacific Dragons team. Maintaining composure, the crew brought it home strongly for a well earned Silver medal.

Unfortuately not all the 2000m races were contested today due to limited time - the 2000m races have been rescheduled for tomorrow. Write up to follow on completion of those races.

The Ice Dragons would also like to extend their sympathies to the family and club mates of Peter Bristow, who sadly passed away on Sunday the 1st of April, whilst competing for South Australia in the State vs State competition. It's an extremely unfortunate event that reminds us of the fragility of life, and we are sure he will be sorely missed by those that knew him.

In a fantastic effort worthy of recognition, Vikki Fraser has decided to take part in the World's Greatest Shave in March and she's looking for your support! Here are some words from Vikki about the challenge:

I've decided to take part in the World's Greatest Shave, March 15-17, to help support the work of the Leukaemia Foundation. I'm going to shave my head to a number 2. However, if I raise $500 (my nominated goal), I will shave my head to a number 1. To top things off, because the shave is so close to St Patricks Day, if I raise $750 or more, I will dye whatever is left green.
 
You can sponsor me online now, by going to my fundraising page http://my.leukaemiafoundation.org.au/vikkifraser ; Otherwise, in the next few weeks I should have a more traditional book of receipts, pledge forms and envelopes. Donations of $2 or more are tax deductable.

Thanks for your support!

Vikki

Bored ? Missing your paddling mates ? Want to shift some Christmas Pudding ?

Serious about the New Year Resolution to get fit ?

Well, have we got the holiday program for you.....