Two Sudbury dragon boat paddlers have qualified for Canadian National Dragon Boat teams, and are competing in an international competition in Thailand this week.
Dave Barrett and Julie Vakareskov began dragon boating as participants in the Sudbury Dragon Boat Festival, which ran from 2000 until 2019, when the festival held its last race.
Citing declining team participation and sponsorship opportunities, organizers said the Sudbury event was no longer sustainable.
And so, Barrett and Vakareskov started looking to other cities for opportunities. “We started into the more competitive stream of dragon boating when we were invited to participate in the 2019 Club Crew Canadian Championships which took place in Regina, Saskatchewan,” said Barrett. “That year we (Vakareskov) qualified for the Club Crew Worlds, which were taking place in France in 2020, and it was in Regina that we first learned about Canada having a National Team, and this really piqued our interest.”
But then, the pandemic happened. All competitions, among other things, were cancelled for two years.
And paddling never really picked back up in Sudbury, said Barrett.
The two would not be kept from their favourite sport, however, and Barrett said he and Vakareskov reached out to Scott Murray, coach of the Pickering Dragon Boat Club just east of Toronto, and began training there. Murray is also the president of Dragon Boat Canada.
“With little to no opportunity to train here in Sudbury, over the past two years we have been driving south, every Sunday, and working out in their gym,” Barrett said.
They trained on paddle ergs, essentially a rowing machine, but with the motion of a paddle and practicing in an indoor pool specifically designed for dragon boating.
The two competed with the Pickering team in the Club Crew World Championship in Sarasota, Florida in 2022.
National Team tryouts began in September of 2022 in Welland, where paddlers from across the country in all age categories, came for the first of two showcase camps.
“This was Julie and my first attempt at making the team, and the competition was incredible,” said Barrett. “So many strong athletes in one place was very exciting.”
The winter brought several dryland testing dates, then a spring camp in Tampa Bay, Florida, all leading to a final selection camp in May in Montreal.
“When the lists came out of who was selected to the team, it was such an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment and pride when we were named to represent our country for our first Canadian National Team,” he said.
Barrett was selected to the Senior A team category (athletes aged 40-49).
Vakareskov battled more than 200 other women athletes for a position, and came up just short. However, she was named to the first ever Canadian Para-Dragons Team.
A para athlete is an individual with a psychological, sensory, physical, neurological and/or developmental disability and the team is an even mix of para-athletes and non-para athletes. “We have worked so hard, for so long, and to finally see all that work pay off is an unbelievable feeling. When we get to put on that Canada jersey for the first time will be a moment that we will never forget,” said Barrett.
Barrett and Vakareskov left Sudbury today (July 31) for Pattaya, Thailand to compete in the 16th International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) World Dragon Boat Championship.
The competition opens with the opening ceremonies on Monday, August 7 and continues until Sunday, August 13.
The two will be competing in 200 metre, 500 metre, 1,000 metre and two-kilometre races with other countries such as China, Australia, Germany, Great Britain, the Philippines, India and the United States.
“We have been told by some of the returning athletes that it is such an amazing experience to compete and stand on the winner’s podium while they play your national anthem. We really hope we get that opportunity,” said Barrett.
He said that making the team has been an amazing experience in itself, but to do so with his partner, Vakareskov, is extraordinary.
“It isn’t often that people get a chance to compete in a sport they love, at such a high level, with the one person who means the most to you? This has been a feeling neither of us will ever forget.”
