THREE young Manning River Dragon Boat Club members have reached the top level of their sport after being selected to in the Australian Dragon Boat team – the Auroras.
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Alistair Adamson, Sean Page and Jade Page will travel to China next August to represent Australia at the International Dragon Boat Federation World Championships, with Alistair and Sean in the under 18s and Jade in the under 16s.
This follows an intensive selection camp at the Australian Institute of Sport.
To reach this level, junior paddlers from across Australia had to undergo fitness testing, with the best from each State being selected to attend the camp.
There they had a full schedule of fitness testing, assessment of individual techniques and paddling in crews with others competing for selection to assess their ability to come together as a team.
The weekend in Canberra was wet and extremely cold paddling on Lake Burley Griffin, adding another challenge to the process.
In preparation for the camp, Alistair, Sean and Jade travelled to Sydney for coaching with Australian under 16s coach, Mary Weaver.
Mary was very impressed and reported that the Manning juniors performed particularly strongly during the camp.
This is Sean’s second time in the Auroras having been part of the gold medal winning under 16s team at the previous world championships in Canada in 2015, while Alistair has been successful in the NSW junior team, winning gold at the past two Australian championships.
At just 12, Jade is the youngest member of the underr 16s crew but has already made a strong impression, edging out older paddlers in the selection process. She will be one of the youngest members in the Australian team.
The three now start an even more rigorous fitness and paddling program as well as travelling regularly to Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra for training over the next year with the hope of bringing back gold from China.
Manning Dragon Boat was formed in 2008 and competes in regattas up and down the coast.
The club has training sessions on Monday and Wednesdays, both starting at 5.15.
There’s a further session on Saturday’s from 7.45, leaving from the ramp near Taree Aquatic Club.
The club also conducts training for juniors on Fridays from 4.30pm.
For further information on club activities or how to join contact : Trish Paff 0468 545 934 or Cathy Stenchion 0414 521 992 or check the website www.mrdbc.com.au
