Dragons’ drums return to waterway
Welland International Flatwater Centre will be filled with dragon boats this weekend as the Canadian Dragon Boat Championships take over the local waterway.
Dragon Boat Canada executive director Chloe Greenhalgh says this is the third year the championships have been in held in Welland, but the event has been happening for 10 years now. One of the main things that keeps bringing the championships back to the flatwater centre is the course itself.
Greenhalgh says the investment into the flatwater centre made by the community has made it not only one of the best in the province, but one of the best in Canada. Because of that, events such as the dragon boat championships are able to run smoothly throughout the weekend.
Between today and Sunday, 150 crews will be competing in 200-, 500- and 2,000-metre races. Greenhalgh says the 2,000-metre races are probably the most exciting because boats will have to circle the course a few times and pretty much anything can happen, including capsizing.
The roughly 3,200 competitors descending on Welland are as young as 10 and as old as 89. They compete in men’s, women’s and unisex teams of 22 throughout the weekend.
There is a crew from Welland competing.
On Thursday, several crews were out on the water practising, which Greenhalgh says many of them do to familiarize themselves with the course and the water.
The races start at 8 a.m. today. The full schedule is available on the dragonboat.cawebsiteunderevents,along with a link for anyone interested in filling remaining volunteer spots.
This weekend also acts as a qualifier for the Club Crew World Championships taking place in Szeged, Hungary, in July 2018.
CHICAGO — A few weeks ago, after appearing at the plate with a protective flap attached to his batting helmet, Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson was asked what the deal was with the new piece of equipment.
Donaldson seemed a bit peeved. He said that when a player constantly sees pitches coming at him that are high and inside, you have to take measures to protect yourself.
So, for a few games, he wore the flap. Then he took it off, then he put it on, and now it’s off again.
And guess what? Donaldson has been hitting the leather off the ball recently and it appears that the flap is gone for good. He has decided that he’ll give up more protection for more production.
The Bringer of Rain has hit home runs in three straight games and four in his last six after hitting two total in his previous 39 games. He also walked twice on Wednesday in Toronto’s 5-1 victory over the White Sox and has drawn 22 walks since the start of July. He has drawn 16 of those free passes against starters, the most in the Major Leagues.
“Just staying disciplined to my plan and really grinding out at-bats,” Donaldson said when asked about his recent string of walks. “There’s been several times where I got down to 0-2 and was able to grind it out and walk out of that, and that’s a win for me. And really just going up there and focusing on having real good at-bats.”
Obviously, the Jays need the Donaldson of old to have any chance of snagging a wild card spot, as slim as that may be. That’s one of the reasons he decided to get rid of the flap.
“You know, I thought there was a couple of times when I had it on there, it was blocking me out of a couple of pitches or I was having to turn my head in a certain manner in order to get a good look