2nd. Annual Dragon Boat Festival
Ft. Walton Beach, FL    09/07/24

What memories were created with this very special regatta. The Warriors sent their “Traveling Team” to Ft. Walton Beach, Florida,  to race the Eglin Air Force Base mixed and women’s dragon boat teams.   

• Eleven teams raced in three divisions. The Warriors and the Air Force raced in the “Military” division.  

• For three days leading up to the regatta the weather was too rough to safely put boats in the water.  But Saturday broke and the conditions improved enough to GET IT ON …AND WE DID!  

• The Warriors raced two mixed boats (an A & B), in separate, 200M heats until the final 200M Championship Sprint, were they met head-to-head.   

• And the Warriors won every qualifying heat.     

• In the Championship (final) Sprint, which included the top three teams by cumulative time, the Warriors A boat took Gold, the B boat took the Bronze.  

• Overall, the team returned to the Villages with Two Golds and One Bronze.   

• The Times posted for all the races were exceptional. But all teams accepted that the 5+mph current, a 10+ mph tail wind, plus a generous “rolling start” helped!  

But, no matter what, we will all remember this “lightning-fast” racecourse.   

After the formal event concluded, the Warrior women raced the Air Force women’s boat.  Our women put on a display of speed and strokesynchronization that is rarely seen in dragon boating. Absolutely amazing!  

And let's never forget the swarms of jellyfish at the dock as we loaded the boats and prepared to back paddle  

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