Coupeville paddlers to compete in world championships / Dragon boats

They are “tougher and meaner” this year, and they hope those attributes lead to more success this time around.

The descriptors, according to Coupeville’s Pennie Rees, will help her team at the Club Crew World Dragon Boat Championships July 17-22 in Szeged, Hungary.

She will be joined in the boat by Coupeville’s Cathie Harrison.

The pair, along with Coupeville’s Roberta Piercy, took part in the last CCWC in Australia in 2016 and found limited success.

The Washington team placed fifth out of six boats in most of the races, according to Harrison.

“That was our first time at the worlds and we were kind of behind,” she said. “We saw a lot and learned a lot; we saw what we needed to improve.”

To help prepare for this year’s world championships, the team paddled at the PanAm games in Puerto Rico in March.

When not competing for the Washington team, the Coupeville duo paddle for an Oak Harbor dragon boat team, which is one of several Puget Sound squads that provide athletes for the Seattle SAKE Paddling Club’s world crew.

The paddlers come from clubs in Gig Harbor, Tacoma, Kent, Lake Washington and Lake Union, in addition to Oak Harbor; each club has multiple teams.

The world championship crew is made up of all-stars from the various teams.

Rees, 75, and Harrison, 73, will paddle 500 meters in a 10-person boat in the “C” (60-and-older) division in Hungary. The Washington masters dragon boat team competed in 20-person boats in Australia.

The Washington team is trained by head coach Lesley Blyth and Canadian stroke coach Tom Arnold.

“We are now in better shape and our technique has really improved,” Harrison said.

Blyth attended “umpteen” clinics in a quest to improve and is “evolving” as a coach, according to Harrison.

Arnold has “streamlined our stroke,” she added. “It is much easier on the joints, which helps with older paddlers.”

Rees took up paddling after a bout with breast cancer six years ago.

“I tried it after someone mentioned going out on the water,” she said. “I never fell in love with a sport like this.”

Harrison has always been “a jock” and played multiple sports in high school and competitive softball for 20 years.

After hearing about dragon boating, she gave it a try and found it fed her urge to compete.

The two tried out for the world team to get a chance to paddle with people who are as competitive as they are.

“Like all our members, (Harrison and Rees) worked hard to be selected for the crew going to the championship,” Blyth said. “Dragon boating is very much a team sport, and no one gets very far without everyone working together.”

The team practices three times a week, with each session lasting from one and a half to three hours, in addition to working out with their home clubs.

Harrison and Rees attend only two of the world team practices each week because of the distance to the Seattle-Tacoma area.

“It is a big time commitment for us,” Harrison said.

It is also a big financial commitment for the team, and the squad is still looking for sponsors, she said. Those wishing to help can contact Harrison at cathieanne@aol.com

Coupeville’s Pennie Rees, left, and Cathie Harrison will compete in the world dragon boat championships in July. (Photo by Jim Waller/Whidbey News-Times)