Gung Haggis dragon boat team gets ready for Vancouver Taiwanese Dragon Boat races.

6th Annual Vancouver Taiwanese Dragon Boat Races is coming up on August 30/31 Labour Day weekend…. and Gung Haggis dragon boat team will be ready!


Gung Haggis dragon boat team grabs the flag during the 2007 Vancouver International Taiwanese Dragon Boat races. Emilie grabs the flag, as Todd drums. – photo VFK

PRACTICE this SUNDAY 10am
It is the last Sunday before Vancouver Taiwanese dragon boat races on August 30/31.
held in conjunction with Taiwanese Cultural Festival held at the Plaza of Nations.

We had a FANTASTIC practice on Tuesday night.

Stephen Mirowski said he hasn't felt power in the boat like this since Vernon.  The boat actually surged during power series.

We
had a full boat with 14 Gung Haggis paddlers + 5 members of GVRD (GVRD
captain John Tailford + 4 women) + Karl from Killarney (He's going into
Grade 12).

James Yu became our “guest coach/drummer” for the
practice, as I did lead stroke with Wendy, Alissa and Keng backed us up
in the #2 seat. Colleen, Debbie, Jane rounded out the front.   Backs
were led by Stephen Mirowski, Tony Lim and John Tailford, along with
great support by Jonas, Rafael, Steven Wong, – a strong engine room
with good support from Gerard, Karl and Brooke.

James did some exercises to encourage paddlers to get
their blades in the water on the entry – before they pull – hence “the
catch”.

We did some race pieces + practiced fun race elements such as the “seat switcheroo” for the NOGARD (backward) race + “turns” for the barrel race.

Everybody said it was a good practice.  Only 2 more practices before Taiwanese races… and the pressure to perform is on!

It's always interesting how more focussed the team and practices are just before a race event.

Our roster is still to be settled.  Unfortunately, a number of Gung Haggis paddlers have some vacation and work commitments.

Well maybe… GVRD has usually been James was impressed with Tuesday's boat, and said Gung Haggis should be better than GVRD next year.much stronger than us at practice races prior to Alcan festivals over the past few years.  We finally actually beat them during one practice this year, but lost all others.

Here are pictures of the Gung Haggis team at from last year's Vancouver International Taiwanese Dragon Boat Races at the Taiwanese Cultural Festival
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24064901@N00/sets/72157601815097689/

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