Paddlers capture 85 medals at worlds
More than a dozen Edmonton paddlers are returning home from the Dragon Boat World Championships with heavier luggage weighed down by shiny new hardware.
Team Canada, including a record 14 racers from the Edmonton Dragon Boat Racing Club, won a total of 85 medals at the championships held in Pattaya, Thailand, last week, raising the total from 74 two years ago.
Noelannah Neubauer made the trip to Southeast Asia from Edmonton to compete with the premier mixed and premier women teams, bringing home three gold medals and one bronze alongside the women’s cup awarded to the top-ranked team in the world.
On top of the tangible hardware, Neubauer’s team also broke the world record in the women’s 200-metre race, becoming the first female team to break the 46-second mark.
“There was so much passion and strength in the moments before, during and after that race. We felt like warriors capable of doing anything and felt so empowered as women for what we achieved,” said Neubauer.
While Team Canada found success, Keli Furman, who raced with a number of Team Canada’s senior teams, said it didn’t come easy. The climate in southern Thailand is noticeably different than in central Alberta and Furman said paddlers could feel the difference.
“I hear it’s about nine degrees and raining in Edmonton, here it’s 31 degrees and very humid, so between races you might have an hour or two hours where you’re sitting under the tent conserving energy. It is hot,” said Furman. “I don’t tolerate that, that well.”
Battling the heat, Furman was also able to take home a variety of medals. Crediting her success to her team back home in Canada, she said it takes a community to get an athlete to win on the international stage.
“It’s multi-layered how you arrive at this level. The entire community, the team that you paddle with in Edmonton, the Team Canada coaches and your friends and family supporting you, you need all that to become a world-class athlete, you can’t do that on your own.”
With the competition now over and athletes beginning to head home, Neubauer, competing in her fourth international event, said the time after the competition can be just as difficult as the preparation.
“I feel that I am now missing a huge part of myself,” said Neubauer. “Yesterday was the first day I woke up without being surrounded by my teammates and preparing for another day of racing.”