Three Manning River Dragons will represent Australia in the 2017 International Dragon Boat Federation World Nations Championships in France.
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Alistair Adamson, Sean Page and Jade Page today, July 14 will travel to Maroochydore in Queensland to take part in the Australian ‘Auroras’ team training camp for one week. The trio will work with paddlers selected from across Australia to refine racing technique, sort positions in the boat and build team spirit. They will then fly to Geneva in Switzerland to continue team preparations and travel to race at Divonne le Bains in France.
The July 27 opening ceremony will precede 2km, 200 metre and 500 metre racing. Alistair, Sean and Jade will race in mixed, women’s and open teams, with Alistair and Sean in the under 18 team and Jade in the under 16 team. All have been training hard on the Manning River in Taree in preparation for the international competition.
Alistair describes the training as hard but very satisfying.
“We have been training on the water at least three times a week, supported by a land training program. Our regular training sessions in Sydney helped to bring our team together by working on our techniques and fitness and making us a stronger team,” Alistair said. “Over the last few months our paddling has really improved. We are ready to do our best for our country.”
For Sean, this is his second time in the Auroras after a very successful campaign in Canada in 2015.
“We are very lucky to have so many from our team from 2015 paddling again this year. We already knew each other and got straight into the business of building a strong team,” Sean said.
With the competition in France we are looking forward to paddling against some strong European teams. We hear that Germany may be our toughest competition.
- Sean Page
Alistair and Sean have the added challenge of also doing the Higher School Certificate at St Clare’s High School in Taree. They are taking text books and studying in their spare time.
Jade is the youngest of the team at 13 years old and will compete in the under 16 team.
In 2015 she watched her brother, Sean, compete in Canada and is excited to be part of the team in 2017.
“It is amazing to be part of the Australian team. I can’t wait to get to camp and travel to France to compete,” Jade said.
She thanked Manning River Dragons paddlers for helping them to prepare for the international competition.
“We are very thankful to our club for training with us during winter. It is cold and dark, so thanks for helping to get us on the water.”
