By Jason Au

2001 was a breakthrough year for the University of Toronto Piranhas, who will not forget the triumphs from that memorable season for a very long time.

Taking the Ontario Dragon Boat scene by storm, they were crowned with the following titles by the season's end:

• TIDBRF Community "A" Finalists
• TIDBRF University Cup Champions
• Back-to-back Ontario Universities and Colleges Champions
• Telus Cup Grand Champions

Looks can be deceiving, and the Piranhas have brought truth to this old cliché by consistently holding their own against larger and stronger crews. The Piranhas are a lightweight crew, and last year, the average Piranha weighed in at 138 pounds - 40 to 50 pounds lighter than other competitive crews of the same caliber.

It has been a short, but trying road for the Piranhas, who have certainly come a long way in a year's time.

Comparing 2001 to 2000

While the Ontario Dragon Boat Scene has become more competitive as a whole, the Piranhas have been improving more quickly than the scene at large, and their performance relative to other teams has improved immensely.

Pickering Dragonboat Challenge

At the 2001 Pickering Dragonboat Challenge, the Piranhas finished 10th overall in a highly competitive field. However, the Piranhas derived great motivation from the fact they had jumped 8 places from their previous showing at this festival a year ago, and they had also finished higher than all teams planning on competing in the Community Division at TIDBRF. And edging out the Monks for the first time in team history to capture the B-Division silver wasn't so bad either.

TIDBRF

TIDBRF 2001, the 2001 Toronto International Dragon Boat Race Festival, was the crown jewel out of all the improvements the team made last year. While the Piranhas only improved by four placements, there are two important things to take into account. Their time in the A-final was 2:21.81 was a little less than thirteen seconds better than their times from a year ago. This improvement cannot be solely attributed to water conditions. Sinai and Baycrest improved by five and nine seconds respectively, while Sick Kids came in at a slower time than the year before. Furthermore, in a division that is bottom heavy with many teams clocking in with times around 2:30 - the Piranhas established themselves as a handful of four teams that distinguised themselves from the rest of the of 84 teams vying for the community title.

The icing on the cake at TIDBRF was a team-best of 2:18.01 over 500 metres to capture their first University Cup. Being the first university team to ever qualify for the A-division final was pretty sweet as well.

TIDBRF Community Results - Top 12

Telus Dragon Boat Festival of Waterloo Region

Finally, the Telus Dragon Boat Festival of Waterloo Region was the site of the Piranhas greatest achievement. Coming into the 2001 festival, the Piranhas were the defending Provincial University Champs, and had come within 0.1 seconds of beating the Cyberplex Shaolin Monks en route to finishing 4th overall in their first ever Grand Championship. 2001 was a step up from 2000. In the qualifying rounds, they posted the second fastest time of the day, 2:19.36. In tempestuous weather, they repeated as the Ontario Provincial Universities and Colleges champions. The Piranhas finished the day off by winning the Telus Cup Grand Championship over the Scream'n Demons. They had successfully completed a sweep of the tournament.

Looking Forward

Last year's results were a direct function of a greater effort and a more intelligent training approach. The Piranhas have applied those same principals to their training this past fall and winter, and are looking to build on their previous accomplishments, as they have done in the past.

And where will you see the Piranhas this year? Currently, they are confirmed to race at 4 regattas: Hamilton, Pickering, Toronto Island, and Waterloo.

This young crew, which now tips the scales at an average of 136 pounds per paddler, still has plenty to prove to themselves, let alone the rest of the dragon boat world.

They are small, young, and have only competed in three grand championships in their club's short 3-year (ok, technically 4-year) history. Statistically, we can see the Piranhas are a team on the rise. But whether or not they simply become a flash in the pan remains to be seen. Quietly and methodically, the Piranhas will once again let their paddles do the talking and hopefully, they will once again reap the sweet fruits of their labour.

-Jason [R5]