13 Apr 2017
We knew we had a pretty dedicated group of Dragon Boat participants this year, when we had nearly all 20 rowers negotiate flooded roads and ignore ominous grey skies to make the Friday training session. Our trainers also admired our participant rate, but believed our stroke timing left a little to be desired. We were resigned to enjoying a fun Saturday out with new and old friends and hoped to avoid the predicted torrential rains.
The day started positively with a prime lakeside position for our luxurious marquees, and everybody looking terribly professional in matching Jamberoo Public singlets and our trademark cow caps. Our small but vocal cheer squad were delighted with our first heat, with team Jamberoo cruising into first place. We were very happy, putting it down to beginner's luck, with nearly half of our crew new to the sport of Dragon-boating (and the remainder of the crew annual participants at best).
Our second heat was similarly slick, with the boat gliding to second place, once our drummer slowed the overly zealous ‘strokes'. This result saw us place in second place among the 14 community teams and qualify for the major final. Although in previous years Jamberoo had made it to the major final, this was our highest qualifying place to date. The team was a little excited!
The excitement was put into perspective when we viewed our opposition. Four of the team were Australian representative Dragon-boating paddlers, all of the team sported their own carbon fibre paddles, they were all fit looking 20-somethings AND to top it off they informed us they trained twice weekly. Our motley crew sported multiple generations, ex-students, many newbies to the sport, an average age of about 30 (but distributed among the early teens and those pushing 50) and some dodgey wooden paddles. We tried hard to maintain a growth mindset.
The rain started as the hooter blasted to commence our race. This didn't deter our dedicated cheer squad, who could be heard offering their support from the pier, however our opposition pulled away from us early in the piece. Then the magic started. From somewhere deep within the Jamberoo Dragon-boaters, we found our timing. We pulled together as one, to miraculously creep towards the unbeatable team. Our ‘engine room' kept the count solid, Tracy's drum beat a resounding rhythm and we edged passed the professionals just metres before the finish line! In a victory the likes that have not been seen since the 1983 Australian victory at America's Cup …. Jamberoo took out the day! Thirteen years of Jamberoo Public School participation had paid off and we lived up to our ‘little school making a big difference' motto to be crowned the winners of the 2017 Festival of Sport challenge. It would be rare to find a prouder group!
Congratulations to our champion team –
Chris Speirs, Jess Martin, Billy Martin, Eve Larsen, Toni Martin, Sharon Behl-Shanks, Warwick Shanks, Toby Behl-Shanks, Tom Behl-Shanks, Joey Thomas, Nicholas McGee, Lara McGee, Andrew McGee, Shaylen Mawbey, Tireni Mawbey, Kristen Mawbey, Judy Adams (3 generations of Mawbey!), Graeme Mounsey, Naomie Anderson, Mick Anderson and Thomas North.