The race to the finish line was a success for most of the Penticton Racing Canoe Club during the 2013 National Iron Championships hosted by Vernon last weekend.
Tina Hoeben, a coach and paddler for the PRCC, said the junior crew, the 70-plus crew and open mixed teams enjoyed strong performances.
“The kids did really well,” said Hoeben of the winning mixed crew. “They went out with confidence. Had some competition from another junior crew that was all males.”
Hoeben was impressed when they managed to defeat a woman’s crew, even though they had one less lap to complete.
“Keeping up with woman crews is not easy,” she said.
The PRCC placed fourth overall in the team standings of the championship sanctioned by the Canadian Outrigger Racing Association. Helping the PRCC climb the standings was the six-person crew with members aged 70 and over. While they had no other teams in their age category to compete against, Hoeben said their performance was amazing.
“I just think they are so inspirational,” said she said of the crew that faced a men’s and mixed team. “I think they are incredibly committed. Tons of enthusiasm.”
The PRCC also had a mixed team compete in four races and finished with the most points to capture the CORA Cup. Thanks to a commitment to training, the crew was ahead from start to finish. Three junior paddlers entered the junior and open mixed races completing the 12-kilometre loop in the morning, then the 24-km distance in the afternoon.
“That was pretty impressive that those young people took on that big challenge,” said Hoeben.
On Aug. 24, in conjunction with Challenge Penticton, the PRCC is hosting a small-boat race. The event takes place on Okanagan Lake using the Challenge Penticton swim course. Experienced paddlers will complete one lap. They will do a chase-down format which has the first person come into shore and park then the second person will come into shore and park, and so on until the last person comes in. The last person keeps going and then they release everyone else in the opposite order to what they came in. Young paddlers begin at 10 a.m., while the chase down starts at 11 a.m.