It was intense.  It was 'scary'.  It was a heart thumping, nail biting, body burning, mind blowing and unbelievable fabulous time at the Club Crew World Championships in Italy!  And, I loved every minute of it!

This is my final blog post for the "Journey to Italy" series and, if nothing else, I hope this series has enticed you to try out the sport of dragon boating.

A majority of the members of the four Vancouver Island Paddling (VIP) club crews were at their respective hotels/B & B's by the 29th of August to get acclimatized and familiar with their surroundings.   We were advised to check out our surroundings for such important things as restaurants and groceries, remembering to "cut as many distractions as possible."

As for me, upon arriving at our hotel, I discovered that the adapter we'd purchased here at home (to enable us to charge our phones and computer) was a dud and I had to quickly find a replacement.  While searching for that, we also scoped out the availability of a food market.  I had to make sure I had the right kinds of food to fuel the body when competing at a World Class Event.  So, I spent much of the 29th (as I arrived late in the afternoon on the 28th) making sure I had my food and that my phone and computer were charged up.  The only real means of communication I would have with my crewmates and coaching staff, while not at the race site, was through email.  So, it was extremely important that I have the ability to establish contact.  With a new adapter purchased and a grocery store location determined, I had cut as many of the outside distractions as I could and felt settled and ready to race!

We had our first crew meeting at the race site on August 31st, the morning we had all 4 crews scheduled to practice, and I could feel the group excitement and nervousness over finally being here at “the Worlds”.  For most, it took 2 years of commitment and hard work (and yes, passion) to be here!  This event was to be the culmination of a whole lot of planning, preparation and training.

It was a very hot day and another reason why we needed that practice - to experience the race site and to feel the weather.  We had to do our best and bring our "A game".  One way to do that was to make sure we could experience as much as possible before the races!  One of my favourite quotes from Tom (our illustrious leader) is, "Don't let the boat (or equipment or site) beat you!"  We needed to feel and see whatever we could in that one hour on the water.  After practice, most of us stuck around to wander the race site (again, to get a feel for what to expect), check out the start and finish line, check out the food vendors and, of course, discreetly check out some of the other teams that we may be up against come race time.  I had spent time with the stern in my boat as well as the sterns from the other crews boats to get insight into what we may come up against and to plan for possible "worst case" scenarios.  That evening (and every evening after), I studied the World's Crew Club Rule Book to make sure I understood all the rules and policies so that we didn't get any timed penalties or be disqualified while racing.  Yes, I packed my Rule Book and it became my focus reading all week!

But none of that strategizing and discussion prepared me for what was to happen on our second day of practice.  Day 2 of our practice the temperature had dropped from sunny and 34 degrees the day before to 17 degrees with rain and an extremely cold, strong wind that made for lots of waves out on the race course.  I realized I needed warmer clothes if this was going to be our weather on any of our race days!  We watched as some of the boats ran into trouble (one even sunk) in the wind and waves.  And, then it happened.  Just as we were getting ready to head out for our turn to practice, ALL further practices were cancelled!  Our crews (having come from the coast of Vancouver Island) felt we had an advantage.  We seriously didn't think the wind, rain and waves would be too much of an issue for us.  After all, we routinely paddled in worst weather than this at home!  Even though we missed out on our second day of practice on the water, the crews stayed at the race site.  We strategized together as crews and then headed back to our hotels (to get warm) after a couple of crew warm-ups.  A new worst case scenario for me now was how to help our stern and paddlers overcome the strong wind (as in getting a straight line from the start) and how that could ultimately affect the outcome of our racing.

To keep a long and very exciting story short, when the actual racing took place, all our crews did extremely well battling it out in our various race distances and respective divisions.  We all raced in the 2000M race (complete with buoy turns), 200M and 500M distances.   We paddled hard, gave it our all in each and every race, and were quite proud to represent our country and our club.  When the dust (or should I say water) settled, the Senior C All Women's Crew finished with a Bronze in the 2000M race and a Silver in the 500M race.  I was the drummer in that Senior C boat and I'm so proud of not just our crew but all the crews from VI Paddling!  We're a young paddling club from the West Coast, but we definitely left our mark at the Club Crew World races in Italy.  I overheard someone from Australia telling another Canadian paddler that, "we usually don't consider them competition at all, but Canada is a very strong competitor."  In fact, both times we (the Senior C Women's crew) were on the podium, it was a Canadian sweep - Gold, Silver and Bronze!

What next?  Well, the National qualifying event (for the next Club Crew Worlds) is in Welland, Ontario next June and the Worlds are being held in Adelaide, Australia in 2016.  That's where I want to be too!  There’s no guarantee that one will have a seat in the boat, so we have to continue to work hard and stay fit and focused as our club will have its own qualifying tests for a seat in the new boats.  Our paddling program will start soon.   But, I know that the paddlers in our club (and in our boats) will do the best they can to be the best they can be because it's pretty awesome coming home with some bling!

My last word, or words, would be to express a sincere “Thank you” to each and every crew mate from each of the crews, as well as to my fabulous coaches (Tom, Andree, Phil and Mallorie), our Land Managers (Roger, Elaine and Ron) and the many supporters/family members that traveled to Italy with the teams.  Without all of you, supporting and being there for everyone else (me included) this wouldn’t have been the memorable experience that I now hold and cherish.   A more amazing group of paddlers, personalities and cheerleaders would be very difficult to find anywhere!

Loreli Urquhart, owner of Alter Ego Fitness Experience, is a BCRPA Certified Personal Trainer and Group Fitness Instructor and she's certified with CanFitPro as a Personal Training Specialist.  Always eager to learn more ways to help others, Loreli has recently become certified as a Kruger Omni Healing practitioner.  Loreli is passionate about health and fitness and loves to share her enthusiasm with others! Contact her to inquire about the new "Butts & Guts" class being offered!