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Editor: Norm Nelson Phone: 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax: 905-337-5567 e-mail: nnelson@haltonsearch.com W I D M S D A V . U I Y. S . 2< X >J · I 1 v>c · I X? SPORTS A group o f O akville mom s and their university age daughters raised eyebrows at the 14th Annual Toronto International Dragon Boat F estival, just m issing out on a m edal in the fea ture w om en's open race. An auspicious debut By Norm Nelson BEAVER S P O R T S EDITOR If yew check the final results for the 14th annual Toronto International Dragon Boat Race, in the open women's division, the top three results are not surprising. First and second place went to crews from Canada and the U.S., respectively, that could very well form the core of their respective country's national teams at next year's world champi onships in Shanghai. And third place went to a crew that could very well form the core of the Canadian masters team at next year's world's. Fourth place, is where the eyebrows are raised. It went to a group of Oakville moms and their university-aged daughters, all but two of whom had never stepped into a dragon boat before this spring. And the two that had stepped into the boat before -- co-captains Lauree Patrick and Hilary Currer -- had just done it the previous year. The moms had met years ago, back when their daughters attended Maple Grove school. Working on such projects as the annual haunted house, they evolved into a close knit group that has last ed over the years. "We're the Maple Grove Moms, way back when -- in history," said Lauree Patrick, chuck ling. A key point, however, is that they are a fit group, some marathon runners, tennis players, etc. But the only paddling pedigree they had was their coach. Mind you, you couldn't get any better than Oakville's Larry Cain (see sidebar, below). "He was the one we had in mind," laughed Patrick. "We thought w e'd go for the top." Their first race of the competition was proba bly how the entire weekend should have ended up for the Oakville moms and daughters -- a bit of a disaster. After all, they were complete rookies. Their entire training involved a nine-week crash course, split between the Burloak Canoe Club (on Sixteen Mile Creek in Oakville) and Sunnyside Beach in west Toronto. And then, suddenly, they found themselves smack in the middle of what could very well be the world's second biggest dragon boat race festi val (behind Hong Kong) before thousands and thousands of onlookers on Toronto Island. They did what most of us would do -- choked. "We got off to a good start, we were doing well," said Patrick. "But halfway through our race we fell apart, we lost concentration. I don't know how it happened. We were probably guilty of looking up to see where we were. "We were in the middle lane." Added Maple Grove Mom Libby Duncan, who also attended the interview along with team mates Lex Currer (daughter of co-captain Hilary Currer) and Maple Grove Mom Gail Jeffries: "We totally lost our rhythm. We were clacking paddles together. "It was like the Keystone Cops routine." Only the Maple Grove Moms didn't think it was funny, at least at the time. "It was devastating," said co-captain Patrick. The Maple Grove M oms and their daughters, racing as the Blade Runners ... Diane Boot, Sylvia Christie, Ruth Conboy, Monica Condon, Hilary Currer, Alexis Currer, Linda Davies, Nancy Denby, Libby Duncan, Katie Duncan, Jess Condon, Cindy Fix, Kate Greenfield, Marla Hahne, Kim Jefferies, Gail Jefferies, Erica Jefferies, Karen McKenzie, Lauree Patrick, Jane Patrick, Tia Patrick, Karen Conboy, Moira Gulledge, Brenda Stewart and Kirsten Denby. "Some of us were in tears. We hadn't even prac ticed that poorly. We had never been that bad. We just totally lost it. We sucked." It wasn't a complete disaster. They did recover fast to finish fourth out of six boats. And captain Lauree Patrick consoled them that their time of 2:50 was better then any of the times posted by the crew she had paddled with last year. And besides, the preliminary round consisted of two races -- so they still had one shot left. "Larry gave us a little pep talk. He said, `look, it was, your first race ever. You've learned from it. There's another race in one hour. Now let us go out and improve on that'." And improve they did! "We won the thing, we placed first," said Patrick. W hat's more, their time of 2:41 would hold up to give them a nearly unprecedented berth into Sunday's top championship race against the sea soned World Cup veteran crews from Canada and the U.S. "We were over the moon when we found we made the A flight or the championship flight," said Patrick. "Larry couldn't believe it. He said his best hope had been B, even C (division), and do our best." O f course, the A flight meant that a win was out of the question. "We knew going in that we couldn't win it. One of the boats, their time in the heats was 220. "Larry just said to us, `look girls, let's be real istic. You're not going to win. Let's just try to get fourth or fifth'." So there they were on Sunday in the featured race of the women's division, a bunch of Maple Grove Moms and their now grown daughters. "It was very exciting," said Patrick. "To say we were nervous would be an understatement." Adding to the tension was a slight delay caused by couple of boats that bumped in the pre vious race. "We were like caged animals in a way. It was just unbelievable the feeling we all had. We weren't making any small talk." Added Lex Currer, chuckling, "and these are chatty women." Finally, the start of the race. "We took off and not one of us looked up," said Patrick. "We really focused." Added Gail Jeffries: "I still have this incredi ble memory in my head of Larry yelling at us: `yes, girls, I like it, I like it. This is awesome'." Continued Patrick: "All I knew is we were making Larry happy so we were just going for it and we came in fourth, 1.8 seconds out of third place. We almost won a medal." Their clocking of 2:31.65 seconds also shaved another 10 seconds from their first place dash on Saturday. "The boat that won was 2.17. It's not that huge. It's not a 30 second difference or any thing." The times were as follows: Toronto national team ladies 2:17.98; New York national team ladies 2:19.49; Toronto national team ladies mas ters 2:29.85; Maple Grove Moms 2:31.65 and the next two at 2:32.28 and 2:41.14. "We thought we had won Olympic gold," said Patrick. "I can't imagine feeling any more excit ed. We were competitive. We were up with the pack. We thought we would be miles behind. We belonged where we were." It is a social sport and a lot of people dropped by to acknowledge the Oakville crew's "cama raderie and heart", including the New York team. "The American team said you know what the difference is with your team -- your girls have heart," said Patrick. Also cheering them on were the other Oakville teams. Oakville was hugely represented in the women's finals with four of the 24 teams in the women's open division, alone. It capped off a memorable two-month period of their lives. It had started with co-captains Patrick and Currer getting involved the previous year. They were "heartwarmed and enthusiastic about the experience," said Patrick. Two aspects made it a perfect combination. First, was the competition, itself. "For years, w e've taken our kids to hockey, baseball and soccer and watched them. This was an opportunity for women to work together as a group and getting that feeling of contributing on a team," said Patrick. Second, was the added element of a greater cause, in this case breast cancer. The event has adopted breast cancer research, helping to raise the profile as well as money. But more important is that breast cancer sur vivors have adopted this sport, so much so that they even have their own division in the race. In keeping with this spirit, the Maple Grove Moms decided to support one of their own friends (who didn't join the Dragon Boat team). She has a son who suffers from Prader-Willi Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder, and the Maple Grove Moms have quietly raised $1,000 for the Ontario Prader-Willi Syndrome Association. Last year's event inspired the pair to form their very own crew of Maple grove Mom's with one twist -- adding the daughters to the team. That happened because Hilary Currer wanted to include her daughter, Alexis, who had come out to watch her mom last year, snapping photos on the sidelines, and was interested in competing this time around. The Maple grove Moms thought it was a great concept. "It's a wonderful way to connect with this age of young adults and do something on an equal basis," said Patrick. When the sessions started, quite frankly, there was a bit of a gap between the two generations. By the third session it was gone. They were a team. The daughters were calling the other moms by their first names and also by expletives when they thought the occasion warranted it. "Within the first three weeks, everyone started to feel the commitment and you could see a change happening. "We were equals," said Patrick. "It was very comfortable." WE ALL JUGGLE THE SAME RESPONSIBILITIES. WE LIVE WHERE YOU LIVE.TM W ere all busy meeting life' s deadlines and commitments. As your good neighbour agent, I can lend a hand with your insurance so you can concentrate on the rest o f your life. C ount on me for all your car, home and life insurance needs. Call me today. Andrew Heideman, Agent 2828 Kingsway Drive 2nd Floor Oakville, ON Quite the ride for Larry Cain By Norm Nelson BEAVER S P O R T S EDITOR A group of Oakville moms and their now university aged daughters took Larry Cain on quite the ride over the June 22/23 weekend at the 14th annual Toronto International Dragon Boat Festival. With Cain at the helm, these moms, who had met and become friends years ago when their daughters went to Maple Grove Public School, proved to be the surprise of the event, qualifying for the top wom en's open championship race, and finishing fourth out of six teams, ju st a hair out o f the bronze medal. In soccer terms, they were South Larry Cain coached the Maple Grove crew. Korea; in hockey terms, they were Belarus. open gold medal team, they had swept all three "It's a long way to go in a year," explained m en's distances (250, 500 and 1000) at last Cain. "Well not one year, essentially nine prac year's world championships in Philadelphia. tices. And they were actually very close to third And then they combined with Canada's very in the A final, so it was pretty outstanding." good women's national crew to win both races For Cain, their achievement even overshad in the mixed world championships. owed his own gold medal in the most presti "O f those five races (three m en's and two gious final of the event -- the m en's open cham pionship. mixed), I was in four of the crews. I got the boot from one o f the mixed races. Getting old I For Cain, the gold medal was, like-- been guess," laughed Cain. there, done that. For Cain, along with the core of the m en's (See 'Cain' page D4) 905-829-0018 andrew.heideman.bdus@ statefarm.com STATE FARM IS THERE. TM INSURANCE LIKE A GOOD NEIGHBOUR statefarm .ca State Farm Mutual Insurance Company · Canadian Head Office: Scarborough, Ontario