Saturday, 24 September 2022, was THE day at last: A total of 34 fun and company groups competed in this year's Rosenheim Dragon Boat Race on river Mangfall. And for the first time, esmo was part of it, too.
Dragon boat racing is all about getting 16 paddlers plus a drummer in line to "shoot" the very narrow boat to the finish line as fast as an arrow which is more challenging than it may look … and yet the esmo team has mastered it.
In the run-up to the regatta, the team had trained several times on lake Simssee and river Mangfall (paddling, rhythm, teamwork, endurance etc.) before it then got serious on the day of the competition.
Shortly after 11.00 a.m., they went to the start as the 18th dragon boat – against no. 17, the boat of the Rosenheim tax authority. And esmo initially had a narrow lead.
However, in the second race a short time later, the tide turned: This time the finance administration was ahead by a blink of an eye – with the same time result for the esmo team of 1 minute and 33 seconds.
All in all, our team finished in a respectable 17th place (out of 34 teams). Great for the first time. And a pretty promising result, which we will certainly expand next year.
A big THANK YOU goes to the entire team:
- to all those who had kept an eye on the team event for weeks and organized it,
- to all those who had tirelessly participated in the training,
- to all who brought the dragon boat quickly to the finish line,
- to all those who spontaneously stepped in at short notice.
And last but not least, of course, to all who enthusiastically cheered from the shore and vigorously supported "our dragon".