Race Wrap‑Up – State Championships, SIRC
Saturday 28 March – 500m

We kicked off the day with a chilly morning and a light breeze that picked up through the middle of the day before giving way to a warm afternoon. Pendragons entered two teams in Senior A Women and a Senior A Open in the morning, followed by a Senior A Mixed in the afternoon. Our Pendragons Abreast 10s crew proudly represented in the BC categories.
Our first race, Senior A Mixed Purple, wasn’t until Race 8, giving everyone time to settle in and warm up. Yellow followed in Race 9. Second heats were Races 18 (Yellow) and 19 (Purple). Race 24 saw our Pendragons Abreast 10s take to the water, bringing home a bronze, followed by Senior A Open in Races 30 and 47, and Senior A Women in Races 33 and 50.

Given our limited 500m training this season, those generous rest gaps were very welcome.
Shout‑outs
•     Congratulations to Maddie, who completed two incident‑free races as a Provisional Sweep for the Purple team. Welcome Kerry and Alison, first time in a sports regatta.
•     Thank you to Linda B for sweeping all remaining races, Annette and Fiona D for drumming and keeping spirits high, Linda T for leading warm‑up drills and our strokes. 
•     Huge thanks to our volunteer Lucy, who spent both days in marshalling, Brenda A in Timing, Hubby Matt (Ange). and to all our family supporters on the sidelines.
•     Our thoughts were with Jane, who had to withdraw due to Covid.
Although we didn’t bring home medals on Saturday, our Senior A Open team made the Major Final, placing 5th with a time of 2:13.43 — a strong result in a tough field.

  Senior A Open lining up in Marshalling
Full results for both days are available on the DBNSW website: https://www.dbnsw.org.au/regattas

Sunday 29 March – 200m
If Saturday was steady, Sunday was full throttle.
The weather was perfect, the atmosphere even better, and the crews were noticeably more relaxed with our stronger 200m training base. We did have a few curveballs — Jane and Karen calling in sick and a last‑minute reshuffle to balance weights and seats. Sri also had a mix‑up with his registration but stayed to cheer us on. Thanks, Sri. (There may have been a few creative aliases when reserves ran low.)
Mixed Racing
The programme opened with Mixed heats.
•     Purple finished 4th in 56.55
•     Yellow finished 4th in 53.98
In the second round:
•     Yellow placed 2nd
•     Purple placed 6th
Yellow progressed to the Major Final, finishing 6th with an improved time of 52.50. ACCA MACCA took first place in 50.26.

SenA W Purple
Women’s Racing
Both Senior A Women 20s and Senior B Women 20s raced strongly, with the Senior B crew making the Major Final and finishing 6th in 59.61.
Our Pendragons Abreast team who also raced in the sports categories, performing brilliantly in their 10s, placing 3rd.

Sunday’s programme moved at lightning pace.
•     Cudos to Gillian (sweep) and Annette (drummer), who barely had time to breathe between races.
•     Thanks to Ange, who stroked in every category, and Linda T, who wasn’t far behind.
•     Thanks to Rinto, who stepped up to stroke when Ajai needed a break.
•     Congratulations to Maddie, who swept Mixed Yellow and completed her provisional sweep requirements.

We entertained the crowd with the Macarena and danced along to Abba and still managed to improve on our times!

Senior A Open 20s
A standout performance.
•     Heat 1 included all the powerhouse clubs — we placed 5th with a strong 52.35, beating all Heat 2 times.
•     In Heat 3 we lifted again, finishing 2nd with 52.38.
Although the Major Final was selected by placings rather than times (and we narrowly missed out), our consistency and speed were absolutely final‑worthy.

Congratulations also to Johann who paddled with Sydney Zodiacs and took home 2 medals in the Under 24 catagory.

Looking Ahead
This wraps up the 2025–2026 DBNSW regatta series. From here, our focus shifts to welcoming and training new paddlers, developing new sweeps, and preparing for upcoming regional races.
Another fantastic weekend of teamwork, resilience, and Pendragons spirit.