Exeter dragon boats cream of the West
Who says Devon is a backwater, where cream teas are not served after 4.30? Conservative pundit, Iain Dale may think so, but listen up:
Lisa Hayes, 41, and Lauren Reid, 25, are dragoning for the top women’s crew. Chrissie Hunt, 41 has made the senior mixed crew. Stephen Donohue, 22 makes the GB open crew and 18-year-old Scott White the junior team. An amazing performance which has been made possible by months of training on the River Exe.
Lisa Hayes says, “Dragon boat racing requires a high level of fitness, hours and hours of training through the winter and, in the main, teamwork.”
This is supported by Lauren Reid, “I trained all winter from October right through until June, getting my strength and power up. Even six months ago I wasn’t sure that I’d get selected and so it’s amazing that I could be competing for my county at a sport that I didn’t really know much about four years ago.”
She added, “It’s just exciting, I love it.”
This is truly a world championship, with crews from Australia, Canada, Japan, and China where, astonishingly, the sport originated more than 2,000 years ago.
Devon & Cornwall Online will keep you posted on the results as they come in. With athletes like this, we can do without the cream teas, thank you, Iain.