SUBMITTED PHOTO The Coulee Classic Dragons pose for a photo in Lethbridge.
Medicine Hat News
When Dawn Lebsack first tried out dragon boat racing seven years ago, she was hooked.
Now, the Medicine Hat paddler is headed to Australia as part of a team competing at the Pan Pacific Masters Games.
Lebsack is part of the 19-woman Coulee Classic Dragons group going to the Gold Coast next week. Everyone on the team is at least 50 years old and the squad has been building to this competition for a couple years.
Based in Lethbridge, the team is part of the Dragon Boat Association of Southern Alberta. They went to New Zealand for last year’s World Masters Games.
Dragon boats are often tied to charity work but there’s always a healthy competitive side to them as well. The Pan Pacific Masters Games will see an estimated 15,000 participants from 30 countries compete from Nov. 2-11, with Lebsack’s team scheduled to compete the first three days of the Games.
They’ll race in 200, 500 and 2,000 metre events.
For more information on Medicine Hat’s dragon boating community, visit medhatdragonboat.ca.
