The 12th annual Okanagan Super Sprints last weekend had Skaha Lake teeming with dragon boats, and local teams cutting down the competition in several races.
Penticton’s breast cancer survivor team, Survivorship, competed against two tough crews from outside of Penticton. They won silver in the A final on Friday.
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On Saturday, 22 In Sync, a local woman’s team was excited to place second in the women’s B final, beating out Survivorship by a thin half-second margin.
In the mixed team divisions, Penticton’s Peach City Dragons scored bronze in the mixed A final, with an overall race time of 1:03.45 minutes.
This year featured the first ever men’s only race division. Male competitors from Penticton, Kelowna and Fort Langley duked it out in an aggressive battle to the finish. The Penticton men’s team took home second place.
The weekend also marked the fourth annual 55-plus Senior Sprints Challenge. All teams raced three times along the 250-metre course, with crews advancing to the final based on their cumulative time.
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The Penticton Golden Dragons women’s team took home bronze in the combined A final. Their mixed team also picked up silver in the mixed A final.
On Friday, the competition included nine seniors’ teams from the Okanagan, Kamloops and Lower Mainland. On Saturday, 18 crews, roughly 500 athletes, took to the lake to compete.
The Okanagan Super Sprints continues to fundraise for the Penticton chapter of Muscular Dystrophy Canada. This year, the Penticton Dragon Boat Festival brought their total money raised over the years to $38,500.
The grand final take place at Skaha Lake in September.