Dragons Keeping Busy
Central Queensland Region Team Coach Gayle Mayes made a recent visit to teach the Dragons a new stroke
As 2023 gets fully into swing, the Cooloola Dragon Boat Club is beginning to work out the details of its upcoming 20th anniversary celebrations. One of the main events will be held on Saturday 1 July. We will provide more information on this special event as we get nearer to July.
In the meantime, the club competed at the Dragon Boat Queensland Regatta which was held at Lake Kawana on Sunday 27 January. This was the club’s first competitive outing for the new year. The regatta encompassed 200-metre, 500-metre, and the gruelling 2000-metre races.
As is often the case, the Cooloola Dragons joined forces with the Hervey Bay Dragon Club to compete as the Wide Bay Warriors. The great news is that the Warriors won one of the women’s 20s races and came in 5th place overall in the finals. It is good to see our local teams doing well in sharply contested events.
In other news, the Cooloola Dragon Boat Club was visited by Central Queensland Region Team Coach Gayle Mayes who took charge of one of the training sessions.
The main reason for Coach Gayle’s visit was to teach club members a new paddling technique. The new stroke is designed to get maximum power into the water helping to increase boat speed. The new stroke technique is being adopted by several teams around Australia in preparation for the National Titles in April.
Club Secretary Elaine Dimock could be considered the backbone of the club
Club Member Profile: Elaine Dimock
Elaine is one of those club members who could be described either as the ‘backbone’ or ‘musculature’ of the Cooloola Dragon Boat Club; such is her input and participation in club events and activities.
Elaine joined the Club in 2008 following the passing of her husband Don. Right from the start, Elaine settled right into Club life and became deeply involved with the Dragon family. After a time, Elaine became the Club Secretary in 2013 and has remained so for 10 years right up to the present time.
As might be imagined, the position of Club Secretary demands a person who is conscientious, efficient, and a great communicator. Elaine is all three and a lot more besides.
She has undertaken many tasks over the years including updating the Club Constitution and writing a history of the Club for Dragon Boat Queensland records. Both tasks required laborious research and the results are a great credit to Elaine’s professionalism and personal drive.
During the difficult times of the Covid pandemic, Elaine was the conduit between Dragon Boat Queensland and our club. She kept the necessary information flowing both ways, so everyone was kept up to date.
As well as administrative duties, Elaine has an incredible commitment to active paddling. Over the years she has achieved an almost 100% record of attendance at training and competitive events. She generally takes the lead in the warm-up sessions before each outing. She hates to miss a training session or regatta when her other commitments get in the way.
Over the years, she has represented Queensland in the National Dragon Boat Titles on four occasions: at Adelaide in 2010 (the first Great Grand Masters competition), Canberra in 2011, Melbourne in 2012, and at Lake Kawana in 2014.
She has supported many CDBC group trips including one to Tasmania, one to China in 2019, and one to Carnarvon Gorge in 2021.
As if all this were not enough, Elaine has also volunteered as part of the team that runs the Dragon’s Lair café — always in the kitchen — on Tin Can Bay market days for the past 10 years. She also facilitates the car-pooling for the team members who travel from Gympie.
Finally, she is one of the mainstays of the club’s social events and after-training get-togethers. It might be noted that she must always have a water view.
If the Club Person Award could be given to a single person every year, Elaine would be one of those at the top of the coach’s list.
As we have mentioned in these pages before, Elaine hates the mention of her age and has possibly become a ‘birthday-free zone’ or one of those people who get to a certain age and then start counting backwards. However, if many of us were as active and vital as Elaine, we probably would be proud to boast of our age.
Well done Elaine and keep up the good work. Long may we continue to work, paddle, and socialise with you!
Toni Archer
