Three members of the River Spirit dragon boat team have been selected to paddle in the Club Crew World Championships in Ravenna, Italy this September.
Carole Dodds, Brenda Gunn and Jeanne MacGregor trained throughout the winter and qualified for the ladies masters team last spring.
The women have been training both on and off the water with City of Campbell River Recreation Department fitness supervisor Mary Fast and local dragon boat coach Nick Hindle.
They have also been training with the Gorging Dragons team in Victoria on weekends.
“These amazing women are an inspiration to me and should be to everyone else,” says Fast.
“They are a personal trainer’s dream team – hard-working, committed, enthusiastic, strong, fit, uncomplaining, and they meet whatever challenge I throw at them! I’m honoured to be working with them, and I know they’ll do incredible in Italy. Look out world!”
The water portion of the women’s training has largely been supervised by Hindle, head coach of the River Spirit Dragon Boat team.
“The ladies have trained hard and all their times have improved greatly over the last few months,” Hindle says. “The River Spirit Dragon Boat team is very proud of their achievements, and we look forward to following their success in Italy.”