World class on water
Medal haul shows how seriously Ottawa takes dragon boating
They started innocently enough, young women looking to expand their lives, support their peers and help others in the community.
And now, after being drawn into the challenge and embracing the demanding commitment to dragonboat racing, M.J. Christine Lefebvre-Johnston, Krysta Matthews, Emilie Lariviere, and Elizabeth Mackenzie are world champions.
Lefebvre-Johnston, Matthews and Lariviere, who are members of the Galley Girls racing team based at the Rideau Canoe Club, and Mackenzie of Chelsea, furiously paddled, as part of the 20-member Canadian women’s premier crew, to gold medals in the 200, 500 and 2,000 metres at the recent 11th world dragon-boat racing championships in Szeged, Hungary.
They were leading the 1,000 metres but were passed in the final few strokes and settled for bronze in the elite women’s racing class.
Their efforts and those of the 17 other Ottawa and area paddlers made a huge contribution to the dominating performance by Canada at the worlds, which was dedicated to national teams. In 2014, the worlds will be held in Ravenna, Italy, and restricted to club crew teams.
Canada takes dragon-boat racing seriously, and the Szeged results reflected that: 30 gold, 13 silver and eight bronze medals from its almost 400 paddlers. China was the second on the gold medal list, with eight.
The 21-athlete Ottawa and area team, which included 11 Galley Girls, were on six Canadian boats — premier women and open men, senior A (40-plus) women, mixed and open men, and senior B (50-plus) women.
They won 15 gold, three silver and four bronze medals.
“The worlds were fantastic,” said Lefebvre-Johnston, who was introduced to dragon-boat racing as a last-minute addition to “a beer team” and became hooked. “We showed up, and the boat felt good right at the start.”
After a year of training, fitness testing and a final selection camp in Myrtle Beach, S.C., the 20-member premier women’s national team plus four spares flew into Hungary from all parts of Canada to work quickly on their team chemistry.
“They look for the best of the best, people who have committed,” added Lefebvre-Johnston, who trained at an indoor paddling venue in Montreal during the off-season.
Jeff Johnston planned to fly to Hungary to support his wife but decided she would benefit more from having an indoor paddling machine, which she used most days during the winter.
Lefebvre-Johnston, who estimates she spends between $10,000 and $15,000 a year on travelling, camps and competitions, enjoys the adrenalin rush of each race as well as meeting new people.
“Dragon boat is unique, (and) the people are very eclectic,” she said. “Nowhere have I been exposed to so many people with so many different backgrounds. But we all train for one goal.”
Looking for “something different” after her second run as a track and field sprinter, Lariviere joined her co-workers at Health Canada to form a team for the 2003 Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival.
Dragon-boat racing is now “a way of life” for her, and the worlds onekilometre final was a perfect example of her passion.
“The 1,000 was a heartbreaker. We were the strongest and fastest crew. But we made a strategic mistake and didn’t race the right race. I think we dominated three-quarters of the race, but we pulled the other crews along. They conserved their energy and caught us at the end,” said Lariviere, who along with Lefebvre-Johnston won three gold and one silver medals at the 2011 worlds for national teams in Tampa Bay, Fla.
The top three 1,000-metre crews were separated by 0.15 seconds. Thailand won in 4:09.21, followed by China, 4;09.27, and Canada, 4:09.36.
Matthews had some paddling experience, when she saw a poster in an Ottawa pub about the Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival and thought it would be a “cool way to meet people.”
She signed up for the competitive class “never thinking I would compete at any level where I would travel internationally.”
But Matthew’s strength, efficient stroke, receptiveness and willingness to take a chance led her to the national team.
“I wasn’t even going to try out this year because of my inexperience,” said the third-year dragon boater. “By my coach (Bruce Raymond) encouraged me to try.”
Galley Girls captain Heidi Maglaras competed in her first worlds with Ottawa racers Holly Allen-Lennox, Connie Hart, Joy Thomson, Michelle Lavois and Natacha Tremblay. They were in the Canadian women’s senior A boat, which won gold medals over 200, 500, 1,000 and 2,000 metres.
Olympian Sue Holloway, Ann Raymond, Kris Foss, Lynn Shepherd, Lynne Evenson, Bei Xiong and Jacqueline Biron were in Canada’s women’s senior B boat, taking gold over the same four distances.
Raymond also paddled in the national senior A mixed boat with Gary Quartermain, collecting gold in the 200, 500 and 2,000 and a bronze over 1,000 metres. Liard Shutt and Andy Moore won silver in the 2,000- and 500-metre races and bronze over 200 metres for Canada in the men’s senior An open, while Luc Labelle was in the men’s premier open boat and earned gold in 2,000 metres, silver in 200 metres and bronze in 1,000 metres.
“Canada was strong. It speaks to our heritage. We canoe,” said Holloway, a double kayak medallist at the 1984 Olympics. “Most think we’re only hockey, but we do canoe. We’re used to the boat, good on water, and it’s part of our culture.”