The swagger the Penticton Dragon Bottoms brought to the Kelowna Dragon Boat Festival delivered victory last weekend.
The Dragon Bottoms, a group of 25 women from Penticton, Summerland and Peachland, bested a field of 17 with an exciting final race against teams from Calgary and Kelowna.
“It was very exciting. We worked really hard this year,” said Diane Matthews. “We’re trying to build a more competitive team.”
The win gave the group confidence and Matthews said their coach wanted them to come with swagger.
“We definitely left with a lot more than we went with,” she said.
Among the teams the Dragon Bottoms defeated were rivals Fire and Water. Defeating them was a huge highlight and after the loss, Fire and Water showed sportsmanship by shaking the Dragon Bottoms hands. Matthews said the other teams in the festival were great, making for good competition. With the races being 200 metre sprints, strong starts were important for the teams.
“There is no time for error,” said Matthews.
The Dragon Bottom’s win comes on the heels of another first place showing at the Okanagan Super Sprints in Penticton in June. The Dragon Bottoms are hoping to continue their winning streak in the Penticton Dragon Boat Festival on Skaha Lake Sept. 9-10. Matthews believes their performance is going to translate into something pretty special at the Penticton festival.