The Great Lakes Pearl Dragons enjoyed another successful outing at the 2019 Manning River Dragon Boat Club Regatta at Taree over the weekend, winning the women's 200m race.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Coached by Rejane Chapman and with Australian Aurora's team member Wendy Orman at lead stroke, the women edged out rivals Camden Haven in a photo finish.
Pearl Dragons' president Denise Marr said it was an extremely fast race.
"Wendy set the pace and it was a very fast pace," she said.
"We had to sink or swim and we swam."
The result was another strong one for the women's team, who have won three regattas this year.
The team also welcomed a new paddler into the fray in Trish McDermott, who, according to Denise, went from a regatta virgin to an old hand very quickly over the course of the weekend.
The club also posted a strong result in the 2km mixed race, coming in fifth.
Denise said this was made all the more impressive by the fact they only had one male paddler and a male sweep, while other clubs had multiple male paddlers in their boats.
"We're very proud of that result," she said.
"It shows the strength of our team and the strength of our women."
Denise said the Manning River regatta was once again a well-organised affair, and congratulated the Manning club for putting on such an enjoyable event.
The Pearl Dragons will now turn their attention to their next regatta on the Coffs Coast in mid-September, while star paddlers Wendy Orman and Peter Reed will head off to Thailand next week to represent Australia at the world championships in their respective divisions.
Stay ahead with local news by signing up for the Great Lakes Advocate newsletter here.