The last regatta before the second biggest event of our calendar, ACT Champs. With 2km and 200m races on the board, you just know it was to be a wacky and wild weekend! There was plenty of eventfulness happening before the racing got started!
Komodo paddlers proved their adaptability, both in and out of the water with having to move the club tent several times before eventually settling in near the marshaling area. Even then, scrutiny was rife, with club president Mills having to talk his way out of moving for the umteenth time. Diplomatic relations were tense at this time, but the president has done well. We look warily to the ACT Champs, with so many teams competing, will there be enough room?
Captain Coops claims that he never sits down during a regatta. I think this photo puts that claim to bed. However, with the amount of downtime accruing, this is understandable. There have been reports the Captain will be bringing his prized rocking chair, with talks of a 3 hour break this weekend.
Enduring a late night inter-state drive, dodging a ticket from a “routine” police check, surviving on scant hours of sleep in the Grevillea Park parking lot, all just to get our configs printed and to be on time for roll call. Is there anything Tom/FNG/ cannot do?? Yes, win a triathlon.
And a big welcome to Narelle, who was attending her first regatta!
With racing under way, in the 2k races had Komodo boats in the womens, opens, and Komodo White chasing Komodo Blue in the mixed. At this point in this season it was a good time to allow the coaches to fine-tune positions in the boat in preparation for Nationals, and to solidify everything that has been done in training. This produced very good results across all categories, as Komodo managed to come out on top in each one.
Midway through the racing festivities, aside from the much-awaited (and possibly a now-regular feature) Nutbush break, the members of the ACT Premier team had a chance to show a 1km pursuit race. Although some there on the day would claim that it was maybe closer to 750m, it still was a great chance to show the level of paddling at a representative state level. The ACT team consists of several Komodo paddlers and coaches, both open’s and women’s captains are from Komodo, those being Zac and Kez. Congratulations and well-deserved appointments!
The 200m races proved to be a challenge for the Komodo boats, as everyone was forced to dig deep against some of the competition in the other boats. In the mixed category, Komodo White and Blue put up an amazing fight, where all the boats finished within tenths of a second of each other. And although Komodo was not able to put up a clean sweep across the categories, it was definitely a good experience to learn and improve from for the upcoming ACT Champs, and more importantly for Nationals in April.
A very special thank you to our coaches, committee, and especially volunteers on the day – Kristen, Nigel, Louise, and Viktor. Next stop, ACT champs!
