Dragon-boat: Boobops maintain rich vein of gold

The Boobops breast-cancer dragon-boat team have capped an amazing season, winning their third consecutive national championship title.

They nailed the title at the New Zealand Dragon Boat Association nationals at the Blue Lakes Rotorua this month.

Boobops are a Tauranga-based group of keen breast-cancer survivors who got together in 2003.

The main focus is to promote wellness, fitness, fun and camaraderie for survivors and supporters through dragon-boat racing.

It is a competitive sport in which 20 paddlers, sitting in pairs, paddle a 12m narrow boat, with a sweep to steer the boat and a drummer to beat time.

Boobops won gold in the 500m premium breast-cancer grand final, bronze in the 200m sprint after a collision during the race, and gold in the 2000m.

They also did two personal best times in the 500m and 2000m races and picked up the Breast Cancer Cup and the Rountree Shield again as part of the 500m win.

The Bay of Plenty Dragon Boat Clubs Open women's team, Bay Dragons, won bronze in the 2000m race in the Open women's division.

Boobops had a string of impressive wins in the lead-up to the nationals, winning both the Tauranga and Hamilton Super 12 regattas early in the season.

During March, the team won gold at the Wellington Dragon Boat Festival in the 350m grand final - the first time they had attended the event.

A hat-trick of wins at the regional competition at Lake Pupuke saw three gold medals in the 200m, 500m, 2000m events, plus the Breast Cancer Regional Cup.

The team have worked extremely hard on and off the water in the past three months, training twice weekly at Sulphur Point.

Boobops coach Matthew Cuthbert said the team's success came down to a number of factors such as fitness, training, technique, race strategy and a desire to win.

The coach was also a finalist at the Sport Bay of Plenty Coach of the Year Awards at the Rotorua Events Centre last November.

The team will take a short break over winter, keeping fitness up with the odd winter paddle before the season starts again in October.

They have a huge year in 2014, attending local, regional and national competitions around the country, followed by the IBCPC international Breast Paddlers Commission World Champs in Sarasota, Florida.

Boobops are looking for a major sponsor or sponsors for 2014.

If you are interested in providing sponsorship for the team, or paddling for the team as a breast-cancer survivor, contact boobops@rocketmail.com or info@boobops.co.nz or phone 07 573 6388.