Pinnacle Dragon Boat Club Steps out of their comfort zone

Several months back Pinnacle Dragon Boat Club made the courageous decision to step out of their comfort zone and into the world of the Sydney dominated elite dragon boat clubs by entering the NSW Dragon Boat Championships.

On Sunday 3rd March, after months of training, a seriously under-strength Pinnacle Dragon Boat team arrived at the Sydney International Regatta Centre, nervous, doubting their ability to even compete in a 500m race and afraid the races would end with Pinnacle Dragons trailing an embarrassingly long way behind the rest of the boats. 

They returned home Sunday evening elated, with new found confidence in themselves, in each other.

No places on the podium - but their performance was stunning. Racing with 16 paddlers (4 short of a full crew), 14 of whom had never competed in a 500m race and 2 in their first regatta ever - the team raced as one, there for each other, reliant on each other.

There was some friendly rivalry with Lithgow’s Flash Dragons (who’d combined with the Illawarra team), the last race of the day being the most exciting of all as the two teams were pitted against each other,  battled with every stroke, for the lead.   Fabulous race - Pinnacle Dragons winning by less than 2 seconds.