Preparation for the State team saw our ladies venturing to Varsity Lakes on the Gold Coast and Lake Kawana on the Sunshine Coast over a number of months to train with other paddlers from South East Queensland, all vying for a spot in the two Queensland Teams. Our six paddlers were selected to represent Queensland in the Masters Women's A Team.
Racing over the 4 day event on the Sunshine Coast consisted of teams competing in a range of age/distance heats against crews from Queensland, New South Wales, ACT, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.
Our representatives finished a well deserved third in the Masters Women's 500m race Grand Final. Above, (from left to right) Heather Day, Fran Wright, Carmen Que, Maggie Boyce, Chris Christiansen and Jill Praeger all proudly display their bronze medals.
“It is a fabulous result for such a young Club to have so many representatives at this elite level, most of us have only been paddling for 18 months to 2 years” said Maggie Boyce. “This proves that if you are dedicated, prepared to train hard and put in the hours on the water you can achieve these results. The winner of our final, NSW A, won the right to represent Australia at the IDBF World Titles in Prague in August 2009.
I can assure you we were all paddling our hearts out for that honour. We are all so much stronger for the experience - so watch this space!”
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