By Jason Au

Twenty paddlers from seven different crews came together, putting their rivalries aside to compete under one name - 'Trail Mix' at the Hamilton Dragon Boat Festival.

The Paddlers came from well established teams: Canada Life Imperial Dragons, BMO Investorline, Shaolin Monks, Cartier Partners Tempest, TCBA Dragon Knights, L'Amoreaux C.I. and of course, the Piranhas. Everyone came into the event hoping to do well, but most people came into the event with the primary goal of simply having fun. It was a spontaneous decision on the part of our coach, Rob Chang, to participate in the event for those of us who couldn't get enough of paddling in a competitive venue.

The wait in between races was very long, but the crew did manage to keep itself occupied. Four of the Piranhas engaged in a raging battle with a game of Briscola - that's Brisk for those of you who have yet to pick up a deck your own desk of Italian cards from your local Italian bakery. Others spent their time checking out the carnival that was going on at the same time, because there wasn't very much room along the course except near the finish line to watch the races, which were run in 3-boat heats. Finally, there were those that just slept or lazed around camp, and believe me there was lots of time to do that. We waited three hours in between our first and second races.

Trail Mix managed to make the "A" final of the day, and for a team of paddlers that had never paddled together and used seven different paddling styles in the boat, we could not complain at all about our fortunes that day.

Congratulations go out to the Sunnybrook Brookaneers who won the event in style.

Final Standings (A-Division)