Newling Gardens Retirement Village residents Gail and Brian Barrett took up dragon boat racing to keep fit, meet new people and travel and they’ve achieved their goals and then some!
Dragon boating consists of a long canoe with twenty paddlers who sit ten long and two abreast, including one drummer who sits at the front and keeps time and a sweep who stands at the back and steers.
When the Armidale Dam Dragons Club was formed in 2012, Brian became President of the Steering Committee and both he and Gail have since travelled all over Australia to compete in regional, state and national regattas.
When an invitation arrived from the Hong Kong Tourist Bureau asking the nearby Great Lakes Pearl Dragon Club in Forster if they would like to enter the prestigious Dragon Boat Regatta in Hong Kong earlier this year, Gail and Brian were personally invited to join.
“We were thrilled! It really was a fantastic experience,” Gail says.
“Every minute there was something different happening!”
In addition to paddling the boat, Gail is also a drummer who commandeers her team to ensure they are in unison and Brian is a sweep who is responsible for the team’s safety.
More than 4,600 paddlers travelled from all corners of the world to compete in the two-day regatta, which was held in Victoria Harbour with Hong Kong’s iconic skyline as its backdrop.
In November Gail and Brian will travel to the Gold Coast to compete in the 2016 Jupiters Pan Pacific Masters Games for dragon boating.
There will be over 13,000 participants from Australia as well as visitors from more than 20 countries, who will take part in 44 sports during the 10 days of competition.
“We enjoy dragon boating and we’re looking forward to travelling the world together to compete in the international regattas. It’s a great way to meet people,” Brian says.
“We’ve found that living at Newling Gardens is ideal as it gives us security and the freedom to travel and follow our passion.”
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