Stars & Stripes
It was a celebration of water sports, Olympic dreams, and America at this year’s Stars and Stripes River Festival in Oklahoma City. PINK was proud to represent breast cancer survivor dragon boating at the famed Riversport complex, the training facility for the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic water sport teams.
PINK set out on our weekend adventure in two groups. The first group left a day early to take in some of the sights around OKC, stroll through Bricktown, enjoy a nice dinner, and spend some quality time with teammates. Group 2 left Dallas bright and early on race day and caravanned to our traditional brunch spot, Prairie Kitchen in Ardmore, OK. At the (almost) halfway point, their country cooking provides a hefty dose of caffeine and protein to prep us for a long day of racing.
Once we all converged on the festival grounds to unload, the uncharacteristically windy summer afternoon made set-up in athlete village a challenge. There were more than a few times when our 10' x 20' tent almost became the world’s largest pink kite. Once we secured our gear, attention turned to the breeze for another reason...paddling into a head wind with a fair amount of chop in the water would require our complete focus!
The opening heat was a 200 meter race in a 10 man boat. When we pushed off from the dock, the combination of the smaller boat, with fewer paddlers, and the wind, made the water feel a bit like molasses. It was thick! It was even more important for us to focus attention on Debbie, our steer – and DeAna, our drummer, to stay in unison and get that boat moving.
Our 200 meter race was followed by a 500 meter, the longest distance many of our rookie paddlers had experienced at a race pace. Again, we had to keep attention in the boat, focus on our paddles, listen for our calls to “power” up our strokes, and go, go, go until we crossed the finish. We proudly took home the silver medal in our division!
That may seem like a successful festival, but the fun was just beginning. We partnered with our DUC club team, Delite, to participate in two flag catching races. Seven PINKs joined Delite for their race with a total of 18 paddlers, a steer, a drummer, and the brave soul that volunteers to perch on the head of the dragon to “grab the flag” as the boat pivots around a buoy before making the mad dash back to the start. A short time later, Delite joined PINK for our flag catch race – 250 meters down, whip around the buoy, and 250 meters back to cross the finish line! While we won our heat, our time didn’t warrant a medal, but this crowd favorite event is always so much fun.
As the sun set and the wind calmed, the participating rowing, kayaking, and dragon boat teams along with the day’s spectators were treated to a fabulous fireworks show. It seemed the perfect end to a great day – Stars and Stripes forever!
