DRAGON 99 3rd Dragon Boat World Champs NOTTINGHAM - U.K.

The full SA squad (bar Gary) - 30 of us, including manager and coach, for the open 100m, open 500m, open250m, mixed 500m and mixed250m; with ages ranging from 16 to 63, we came from 3 clubs; Safdragons, Paddlesnappers, and I&J.

Reflections at the end of the day The team backstage at the Celebration Dinner - prior to lifting the roof with their dance!

Vincent and the girls (- and "Sybil" ! ) on Vincent's 25th wedding anniversary. "ATTENTION !"

THE TRUE STORY OF "THE NYET" The true story of The Nyet has become clouded by the sands of time. This account, although not completely accurate, is as factual as the abundance of the sweet grasses on the Siberian winter plains. The "One" who was not from Russian origin but had become known as "the Russian" during the last few hours, sat down next to the road on the beautiful pre-dawn English morning. As he sat he pondered upon what had passed. The 1000-meter open heat: The look of sheer horror on the competitors faces as a boatload of no-hopers accelerated into a competitive position after: "You are now in the hands of the starter", "Are you ready" and "Go" had been called by the officials in short order. The long hard pull to the 750-meter mark. The impossible kick and an even harder pull to the 500-meter mark. Another even more impossible kick and on to the 250 meter mark. It felt as if the Gods had gone crazy and invented a paddling engine made up of human parts, connected only by concentration and spirit. The smooth hum of this engine operating at full power was beyond description. A combination of tortured water and human groans laid down to the rhythmic beating of a drum. Another kick and the sounds of the engine coming apart, as it accelerated and performed beyond its designed capacity, became audible. The screams and shouts as the boat approached the line. A last impossible super human splutter of power performed with the twitching arms of the recently deceased and the engine exploding into silence as it crossed the line." The "Russian" had never seen 1000m of clear water challenging him from his position in the boat before. Where he had trained, during the Cape Town winter evenings, the 1000 was achieved by starting from the Marpro Wall. The two half crewed boats racing across the Victoria Basin, riding the wakes of the great ships, as they made their way towards the cutting at Berties, where crowds of revelers jeered and shouted encouragement. Then through the relative quiet dogleg of the Alfred Basin and on to the boring shelter of the New Basin affectionately known as The Duck Pond. He was amazed by the courage and performance displayed by his fellow crewmembers. As he slowly relived each of the races, his pride in the team increased. Not only was he impressed by those that sat in the boat with him race after race but also those that were left on shore who constantly supported and encouraged the nominated team. He stood up. The way out of the security area had become clear to him while he rested. "Ah " he thought, "I will be able to stumble in and march out without being detected. All I have to do is sneak down to the bottom fence and follow the fence along to the main entrance." As he carefully walked along the planned route his thoughts again turned to the event. The competitors had been all he expected, possibly better. What had blown him away were the friendly interactions, which had become the norm during the four days, the singing, cheers of encouragement, numerous victory arches and individual chats. The shouts of "Go South Africa" from spectators and competing members echoed through his mind as he remembered some of the great moments on and off the water. The officials and organizers had also done an excellent job. Organizing an event of thousands of competitors in individual events. The facilities, the precision starts, the announcements and the friendly banter with officials in the starting pens all came to mind as he reached the boundary fence. He turned to walk along the boundary fence and considered all the people back home that had supported him in so many ways over the last six months. His wife, child, family, friends, colleagues at work, sponsors, club and many more, had all supported him in tangible ways. Without them it would have been impossible to be here. The lightening sky lit up the name "Russia" across his tired shoulders. The tracksuit top had been traded, earlier, in the frenzied clothes-swapping Bazaar at the Gala event. A great feeling of peace descended upon him as he realized that he was totally satisfied with all that had transpired during the last six months. The training, the organizing and the financial sacrifice had all been worth it. He had gained more than he had offered. It was over. He could now go home. The thought that there would be other races, and possibly another World Championship, but not another "Nottingham", made him sad. He would not come this way again. His newly gained peace and sadness was shattered by a gruff challenge from the rear. "And where do you think you are going to Russia ?". The warnings about the state of security, the issuing of live rounds and the orders to shoot raced through his mind. "Nyet, don't shoot, I am too young to die": Was his reply. "OK, "Nyet", just wait there we'll take you back to your base.": Was the humorous retort by the British Marine. The trip back to the camp in the Military vehicle, the greeting from the vehicle to a team member on his way home and the look of disbelief on the face of the last remaining member of the celebration party as the "Russian" now called "Nyet" arrived in the military vehicle at the base, are now part his personal Nottingham experience. With the true heart of a Dragon-boater, "Nyet" acknowledged the breaking of the beautiful Nottingham dawn. As he stood witness, respectfully silhouetted in the warming rays of the sun, the greatest event unfolded before him. A grand new day was granted and thousands ceased to be a part of "Nottingham" as all the things that were "Nottingham" became a part of them. "May it live in their hearts and minds forever". NYET

There are a lot of really nice pictures of us on the official World Champs Web-site - Click here to view them at "Dragon 99"

Another perspective "Dragon 99" The 3rd Dragon Boat World Championships - Nottingham - U.K. South Africa sent a squad of 30, including manager and coach, to compete in the 3rd Dragon Boat World Champs at Nottingham. Being unable to afford the last minute revision of the cost of accommodation at Nottingham University in its beautiful setting near the River Trent - or even the campsite which had risen to more than we were quoted for the university, we found ourselves in a tight corner. After anxious negotiations, we were accommodated in a disused barracks at an army base 45 minutes by yellow double-decker bus from the Water Sports Center. We were initially dismayed, but in true South African spirit soon started to see the positive aspects. At a £:R exchange rate of 10:1 we had to watch the pennies. Cooking as a group not only helped cut costs, but it was good for team spirit, as was the fact that we were so far away from everywhere that we couldn't go anywhere in the evening. We socialised and had fun together, and once we'd opened all the windows and dried out the sodden grey army blankets to get rid of the smell in the girls wing, it was quite comfortable. We had hot water in the showers, we could make as much noise as we liked without disturbing anyone, and we could run down the hill, past a ubiquitous Macdonald's to a beautiful riverside nature reserve, laden blackberry bushes lining the paths alongside the waterways, ancient church spires rising above the forests, swans and Canada geese everywhere, and beautiful English countryside - with no squatters and no pollution! The end result of our being isolated here was a much more closely knit team than the one that went to Hong Kong in 1997. Our thanks to Mike and Nicky for coming to our rescue. The venue itself is amazing - very little cross winds, no tidal flow, and no rip currents or tug wakes. We were relieved to see the boats were the sort we are used to, and were most impressed by the condition of the boats for the tournament - except for the sweep oars on two. They looked awful and so proved to be when I unfortunately finally encountered one on Sunday's open 500m. The shaft was too big for my small hands and it was so long I had to hold it half way down - but then it hit the paddler two seats in front of me whenever I lifted it clear of the water. The blade too was very long and skipped about with a mind of its own. It made me understand why the German sweep lost control in that one race, in spite of being in the lead with no wake problems. She must have had that oar! It took all my strength to keep in a straight line with that oar in the Open 500m when we found ourselves balanced across the Germans' wake for the last 300m. Monday's practice was the first time since our November 1998 International that I had helmed a boat with more than 14 paddlers - we always swept half full boats during training. It did make things more entertaining, especially for both sweeps, with chases including a tight turn around one narrow bollard close behind the Robben Island ferry and other such sundry items in the Victoria and Alfred Basin of Cape Town's harbour. However, in my opinion the sweeps - and crews - could have done with a little more heavy helm experience! I was therefore grateful to have two practice sessions in Nottingham with a full boat before the real thing! It was at the practice sessions that the rest of the squad began to realise what we were up against. Only the 3 of us who had been to Hong Kong knew what to expect. Eyes were wide with awe at the size, build and focus of the Canadian men warming up right next to our tent. Two of our guys weigh less than 60k! D-day dawned and the nerves were taut as we sat silently on the top deck of the bus. Wendy had the brainwave of turning up the music and got us all singing. In the first heat of the open 1000m we found ourselves with the big guns and were left astride their wake. Our young guys weren't expecting this and were downhearted. Again Wendy had the right recipe; she turned on the Safdragon song "I get knocked down but I get up again… you ain't never gonna keep me down". That gelled the squad into realising we were privileged to be there and to be able to participate, we were going to do so with spirit, and we were going to enjoy being part of a major dragon boat event, meeting and making friends with people with a common interest from all over the world. Many other countries had squads of 100 or more - Germany's squad numbered 180 and the USA, 120. We only had 30, one of whom was too ill to even watch. This meant that it was a very weary team on the last day competing against fresh paddlers in the Open 500. Our last race of all was great - the team drew on hidden reserves - utterly determined to beat Hong Kong! Some of our most exciting races of the Championships involved tussles with the Dutch; in the 1000 open minor final they won by 0.03 sec but in the 500 mixed we won the minor final, beating the Dutch by the same margin! The team not only met all their time goals, but smashed all existing South African records - the 1000 open by 14 seconds. Off the water the South Africans lived up to their reputation established at both previous World Champs (China 1995 & Hong-Kong 1997) for their cheerful team spirit and friendliness. By the end of the week it was not only the other teams, but spectators and stall holders as well, that awaited and applauded the arrival of the South Africans, flag held high, in their colourful kit, and singing lustily. At the celebration dinner we brought the house down with our rendition of a Zulu paddlers' war dance - and our guys' attire! In the meantime 14 Safdragons, 14 Paddlesnappers and two I&J Dragons will have to come to terms with reverting to being friendly rivals for our 5th Cape Town International Dragon Boat Racing Festival in November.

A very special extract from an e-mail I received from
Steve Bradley, Head of Sport, Nottinghamshire County Council

"I could not let this moment pass without also congratulating the South African team on their tremendous team spirit and warm affection they showed to everyone they came into contact with. They were a credit to themselves, their sport and their country."