Seymours Compete In The 2024 Dragon Boat Race For Woking & Sam Beare Hospice
09 June, 2024
On Sunday 9th June 2024, Team Seymours took part in Woking & Sam Beare Hospice’s Dragon Boat race at Goldsworth Park Lake.
The rules of the Dragon Boat race is that each team competes in 3 races, and the final time is calculated by averaging the two best times. The Sun was shining and the team were up for winning gold!
Seymours first dragon boat race was a spectacle of epic proportions. Our timing was so out of time, it looked like we were frantically trying to swat flies. The boat took on more water than the Titanic and we were thrashed by a team of Vikings who looked like they’d rowed straight out of an Asterix comic. Our time? A leisurely 1 minute and 10 seconds.
It was decided we needed a team shuffle, placing Zo Khan, the powerhouse, in the boat along with Clarissa, who had previously rowed Team Seymours to gold. Kerri assumed her true calling as an enthusiastic bank-side cheerleader. Andy’s drum duty was passed to Shannon, allowing Andy to resume his place in the boat. Brett, aerodynamically efficient, remained in the crew alongside the mighty fit Laura and a reasonably sober Tom Hill.
Lloyd (2018 gold medallist), took charge of the team and put them through timing training, also sharing his expertise with new recruits Tyler, Joe, and Mo. Jamie was putting in extra training, wrestling with dinosaurs with his young sons Franklin and Stanley and then Lucy revealed her secret weapon, her brother George, a 6ft 8 rower.
With Spencer and Max continuing to bring glamour to the team, and with our new giant leading the way, we won our heat and knocked a whopping 4 seconds off our time. With one last chance to improve and a dream of making it to the final, we eyed our competition.
Teams like F3, Natta Building and the Horsell Runners were speeding along at an average of 56 seconds, but optimism (or delusion) kept us going. In our final race, everything clicked: our timing was on point and the team rowed like a well-oiled machine. We won this heat too and shaved another 4 seconds off, finishing at a triumphant 1 minute and 2 seconds!
We didn’t make it to the finals but not bad for a bunch of estate agents who decided to trade their suits for paddles, and lets not forget who the real winners were on the day - Woking & Sam Beare Hospice.
