Knock Out Win

The most awaited annual 8km race is here!

We had every intention to write 8 K reasons why we love the Bei Loon race but just like the race, it’s now down to half of what it should have been.

So here are 4K good reasons why we love the Bei Loon race.

K reason # 1: Komodo grit

We all know that every Komodo has undeniable grit. The hunger to win resonates in every paddler not just in races but also in training. As soon as the “Komodo Beiloon 2023” group chat was formed, we all knew it was on! In true Komodo fashion, the first ever Bei Loon boat training ran for not just 8 but a total of 9.6 km (with a false promise short break after the 20min mark turn).

Heads in the boat, the Komodo Grit was in full swing as soon as the race started. Big 5, deeper, longer, 3, 2, 1 were called. The Komodo boat starting last, went for the boat in front. (Hot tip – never trash talk a blue and white boat especially right before a race). Boat after boat after boat. Aiming for the very last boat to chase, Komodo reached the 4km mark when we heard “Komodo stop!”. The blue and white boat was not happy, not at all.

The last heat ended abruptly due to dangerous weather. We were all thinking it but Michelle said it, “These Sydney siders need to toughen up”.  Cries of disappointment throughout the boat. All 18 paddlers plus the sweep still wanting to race until the very end. We all know now, nothing will stop a Komodo. Not even choppy salty water.

K reason # 2: Kick Ass Music

Thank you to our strokes, Thea and Millsy (and maybe coach Kim) for the Bei Loon playlist. Setting the rhythm of the boat, the playlist was a huge success in trainings and also the race (despite battling the wind). Everyone was definitely in the zone as the music set the rate. Few weren’t  Meghan Trainor fans but we  loved almost every single one!

K reason # 3: Killer Turns

Because Bestie takes her craft very seriously, first order of business was to watch the previous heats and strategize each and every turn. With a game plan in mind, Millsy was asked to post and two benches behind to draw deep.

Posting did not happen. I don’ t know about the other sweeps but Bestie sure as hell made those turns look easy peasy! No other boat turned as sharply as the Komodo boat did which surely helped getting ahead of the other boats!  I truly believe our sweep deserves a standing ovation. Bravo Bravo!

 K reason # 4: Knock Out Win

Okay okay so we were announced a third placer.  This is debatable. Who thinks  4km time x 2 minus “bugger” factor is the right equation? With all that hardcore training, we’re all fit as we can ever be. Komodo does not get buggered over 8km!! If anything, we go fast and we power home! So with that, I therefore conclude that Komodo won that race. We just have to race again next year to prove it. Who’s in?

Until then, Komodo will work hard and party harder. It was an over all a fun day out in the sun, doing what we do best. A day spent with beautiful happy people. Thank you coaches for always pushing us to be the best we can be and thank you teammates for making every race one for the books!

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!

Local Canberrans report more sightings of a blue and white Komodo on Lake Burley Griffin!

A roving regatta reporter update from Lorraine and Kate!

Lake Burley Griffin was on showcase with perfect set conditions, sunny blue skies with a mild 15 degrees that slowly crept towards 31 degrees holding off a westerly that kicked in by 11:00am.  It was a day for friends and families, dogs and local residents to come and spectate this specular sport of Dragon Boating!  Visiting clubs from the south coast, Merimbula Water Dragons, Nature Coast Dragons and Jindabyne Snow Dragons, as well as the unveiling of the Deaf ACT Paddlers, plenty of good feels popping off all throughout the day! Regatta 5 was off to a ‘fantabulous’ cracking day!

Komodo’s have been pretty busy of late, travelling long distances across the region attending races in Lunar, Sydney Harbour and Bei Loon and to local regattas. Typically, a Komodo begins their journey well before sunrise and on arrival to LBG, if you listen carefully, you can hear the snapping of twigs as Komodo’s start appearing through the tree lines of the Grevillea Park escarpment. Being territorial to Lake Burley Griffin, Komodo’s are quite comfortable in their natural environment, knowing precisely where to claim that piece of estate for cool refuge under the canopy of trees.

Whilst coaches Kim and Thea, disappear into the security of a four door ‘Toyota Carola’ work continues behind the scenes, making those final crucial deliberations on configs. Komodo’s thoroughly enjoy that early boost of caffeine as part of their preparations, complementing those moderate levels of adrenalin and endorphins, others enjoy a light snacks like yoghurt and muesli, nuts and plenty of H2O!

The verdict is out! With other inspirational fellow team paddlers trialing for Aurora’s, Komodo paddlers were going to be stretched thinly across the 18 races that consisted of three categories of a 20’s Women’s, Opens and Mixed 500’s.

Whilst Captain Coops is being held up in the teams mangers meeting, Coach Thea took lead with ease, prepping paddler’s for the first women’s race kicked off at 8:00am. Never enough warm-up and what’s a regatta without the ‘Nutbush’!

Final motivational brief from Head Coach, Kim and it’s a “3-2-1-Komodo and is pumped and ready to rumble!!!”

Let’s Get Down to Racing!

Komodo’s are now at that pointy end of the season, coming out of the beetroot phase and working hard into the red phase. Regatta’s provide opportunity, not only to flex muscles, test and measure our levels of fitness and endurance against other club paddlers. But importantly, they can be a testament to how Komodo’s demonstrate other essential skills: agility, adaptability, and resilience to whatever gets thrown at a paddler. This can include warming up at 5:30am to Pokémon and Duck Tunes! President Chris Mills was delighted to hear that ‘He Mele No Lilo’ has climbed back up into Komodo top 100!

As previously mentioned, Komodo’s were going to be stretched and Komodo’s stepped up! A great example of this was Aditya, who spectacularly drummed for many of the women’s races. Additionally, Ads was back-to-back with sweeping races!

Enticing weather gods were truly smiling, giving a flat calm glassy racecourse. Official starters and paddlers were in their element and races went without incident.  With the Women’s 500’s out of the starting blocks, it was Griffin’s and Invictus turning up the heat in the first two women’s heats, but Komodo women really fought back crossing that finishing line with dragon’s head in front, taking the final. Let’s not forget, women’s Komodo had only 17 paddlers, well done ladies!

The Mixed 500’s took off to a flying start in the first heat, but were cursed with ‘rockin’ n rollin’ all the way down the racecourse in the second heat. With a quick team huddle and debrief from Captain Coops, how not to fight the rock, relax those hips and go with it, and reshuffle of weight. Komodo magic all the way down that racecourse, taking out the final. Captain Coops was very pleased and decided to give everyone an exemption from the traditional 3 hour debrief huddle!

500’s Open – Komodo Opens were a strong contender, finessing their technique in consecutive wins in the heats to a convincing boat length finish. A strong longer deeper reach call from Ads, and the Komodo’s harnessed their kick and powered down the 500m straight. A thumping big ten and a power home.

 Breaking News!!

Special event of the day was the unveiling of Deaf ACT Paddlers, and who no one else better to capture this experience than from Kath O’Brien (OB) herself.

Four weeks of training and preparation as part of the DBACT/DeafACT inclusion program resulted in fierce competition between the two teams –  Buddy Dragons and Magic Dragons over 200m, with 2 heats and a final. The sweeps calls were relayed in Auslan. Some of the signs such as paddles flat, back paddle, stop the boat were created specifically for dragon boating.

 

One of the highlights of the day, was after the crews raced seeing paddlers from various clubs and supporters clapping in Auslan.

 

 It was an absolute pleasure and very rewarding experience, to share our sport with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. Many paddlers from various clubs volunteered their time including my Komodo family.  A heartfelt thank you to DBACT’s approval for this program and all involved.

 

Thank you, OB.

(Awesome work from our Kool Komodo Kathe O’Brien)

Wonderful team support from Sweeps Kim and Julia, Paddlers Jacqui, Michelle and Vic and Pam on the drum.

Again, paddlers were being stretched across racing and if you weren’t out on the water, it was a quick ‘Do-si-do’ back to line up for the next race. Indulge in a bit of fun banter and strike up those conversations amongst fellow paddlers, music, food, politics, world’s longest plank…and…NAPISAN!  ‘But what’s ‘Napisan?’ you ask Matt and how do you get a Komodo shirt so white?’

Whilst other paddlers jostling around the marshalling area, a brief scuttlebutt broke out amongst the 500’s Open, leaving some paddlers slightly dazed, yet curious in wonder… ‘Was it fake news, fact or fiction?’  Some described a weird phenomenon happening out on the lake with strange parallels to that of the Netflix series ‘Wednesday’ (Adams Family)…Was there a “Wednesday” (Pam) cameo? And let’s not forget it was only a full moon last week! What’s not to wonder, are there ‘Wolverines’ who walk and paddle amongst Komodo?

Congratulations to Ursula Ross, debuting in her first regatta with Komodo, powering from the sprint room!

Volunteers!

Regatta’s don’t happen without the support of volunteers, a BIG THANK YOU to all!

Final words from Coops and Milly summed up the day. It was great to see to us all improve on each race, taking on the feedback, to reach and find depth with each stroke. Whilst our best races on the day were the finals, each race we fought to do the best for ourselves and our team!

(and it’s ok to win as well 😁)

REGATTA 4: SATURDAY 14 JANUARY 2023

The New Year certainly started with a bang! Christmas Holidays? “So last year” and it was time to work off all that excess! The Club focus has now firmly switched to the Australian Nationals, with warm up races at Sydney Lunar, Bei Loon, potentially New Zealand and then it is on – strap in everybody!

Fabulous weather, which was a nice change, capsizes, lots of other clubs, fierce rivalry and racing, one our boats went walkabout in the 2 Km, Laura making a guest appearance from UK back with the Club and lovely to see her, Sonia supporting us in true style with her injuries and a warm welcome to our latest recruit Ben the Kiwi who was certainly thrown in at the deep end – welcome aboard! This culminated in a great BBQ and a heap of fun! Where do your roving reporters start?!

The day started early as we were the Regatta set up and pack down crew to set the day up for the racing – dressing the boats, tentage, signage etc. How many Komodo’s does it take to put up a tent? It depends how many times it has to move. While all this was going on, Thea and Kim were sorting out the Racing Configs and the results of the day showed how successful they were – great achievements all round. We had a very strong turnout and had three full 20s boats racing which brought additional challenges as we had been training with smaller crews.

What’s a warm-up without a little disco music to get everyone moving? With Coops pumping the tunes during his usual funky moves, everyone was in tip-top Phase Blue shape. Bonza motivation speeches by our Captain, President, and coaching teams.

The Racing was great – everyone was pitched in to starting the day with 2 Km racing back-to-back which certainly got rid of the Christmas Blues – “why did we eat so much and do so little exercise” we muttered! And then it was a blur of 200m races followed with some very sharp turnrounds at times – flexibility was key! Also, some valuable lessons about “removing the rock” noted for future training.

Noting some of the brilliant results which really puts paid to all our hard work and training: Komodo Opens in the 2km started from being the last boat to cross the start line to becoming the first to cross the finish. The resulting 10m51s time was a full 80 seconds faster than the second boat. Thinking of every 500m stretch as four separate races really works!

In the Mixed 20s 2km, it was Komodo Blue up against Komodo White. With Adz and Aditya sweeping beautifully, both boats romped home to 1^st and 2^nd

It was a while since we had seen a capsize, but it was handled well, no injuries and there was certainly some fun in the “chaos corners” of the various 2 Km races as calls, bogus shouts of “right of way” by the other sweeps who seemed to focus on the Komodo boats and clashes were handled (by Komodo anyway) very well.

The capsize was an interesting sideshow – it was at the end of a race and seemed to be in slow motion as they did a stately dance and flopped into the water. The recovery was speedy and meant they were all floating around and holding the boat with only their heads showing as if they were on the start line – but the boat was underwater!

We also had the pleasure of welcoming the DeafACT to Dragon Boat Racing and take us through our paces with Dragon Boat signing which included new Dragon Boat signs as some of the commands are not in the signing vocabulary – a very warm welcome to them and a big thanks to O’B for helping to set it all up.

A cracking day down at Grevillea and many thanks to our coaches for setting us up for success. A couple of the clubs ran us a bit closer than we thought giving the coaches plenty to consider – as we found out the next day at training! No mercy in our quest for world domination ……………..