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The BC Interior’s first dragon boat race of the season kicked off on Friday morning with sunny skies and seven seniors teams from all over the Okanagan, Kamloops and the Lower Mainland.
The Okanagan Super Sprints are fast 250 m sprints on Skaha Lake that offer head-to-head racing over a shorter distance, allowing teams to get their feet wet for the season and practice all their race-specific tactics.
“This is a much more local sort of low key Dragon Boat Festival. It's early season, with the idea being that local teams can come and race in a less stressful environment and sort of work out the kinks of being a new group back on the water,” Launa Maundrell, President of the Penticton Dragon Boat Festival Society said.
Hundreds of athletes will be competing in the 13th annual Okanagan Super Sprints, and fifth annual Senior Sprints.
Having the two age groups for competitors evens the playing field for teams, Laundrell said.
All of the teams will tackle the 250-metre course three times, a fierce and fast race with no room for mistakes, right along the Skaha Lake Park promenade with plenty of opportunity for spectators to take in the excitement.
On Saturday, 15 crews totalling nearly 500 individual rowers will take to the water.
“It's a little less in terms of attendance than previous years. But that's completely to be expected. The two years of COVID has made it tougher. Teams are 24 people and to bring back together, some have moved on completely to other sports,” Laundrell said.
“But it's great to just have pulled it off. Just to have people here again.”
But interest is growing in the sport, as Laundrell notes, with more people taking the opportunity to join in the past few years.
“It's very much in Penticton, the last couple of years, actually have had lots of interest. Whether we could actually get them into a boat, the last couple of years was tricky. But this year, we've run an intro program that's just wrapping up on Monday, and those people are completely hooked on the sport,” she said.
“Dragon boats are alive and well in Penticton. For sure, it's growing quite a bit.”
The Okanagan Super Sprints is fundraising this year to help raise money for a new boathouse on Skaha Lake, with a 50/50 draw on site.
“We as well have some amazing prizes that have been donated by local businesses where you can purchase tickets and the proceeds from that will be going towards our boathouse fundraising campaign.”
While the City of Penticton has included a new boathouse in part with the Skaha Marina improvements plans, the group is working on getting money started towards the funds since their current one is in dire straits.
“So that one we moved into 22 years ago and it was almost condemned. It's definitely on its last legs,” Laundrell said. “We have support in the winter for when snow is on the roof. It's literally falling apart.”
The Okanagan Super Sprints event is free to watch and continues on Saturday from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Competitors will be back on Skaha Lake in September to compete at Penticton’s Dragon Boat Festival.
