Submitted by Marion Egan.
Depending on their location many of the Irish teams cannot train through Winter and start training in March and April. Many clubs have used this time to prepare their training plans for a busy summer.
Grainne Mhaols, based in beautiful Lough Lannagh in Co. Mayo restarted their training in March and welcomed some members from the Plurabelle Paddlers in Dublin on a bitterly cold Saturday morning for one of their first training sessions of 2024. This was a weekend of fun, friendship and paddling, with the presentation of a special original paddle from the Plurabelle Paddlers to Grainne Mhaols. In addition, the club has had an intensive training day with help from Julie Doyle of Irish Dragon Boat Association.
Suir Dragons took advantage of Spanish sunshine attending a special week training course in San Pedro in advance of their training season.
In other news we are delighted to welcome another new dragon boat club to our sport. Lough Rinn Dragons, based in beautiful Co. Leitrim are a new club open for membership to breast cancer survivors and other paddlers in Leitrim. They have also had intensive training from Julie Doyle and the IDBA crew.
All this at the start of the Irish regatta season, with our first regatta due to take place in Athy, Co. Kildare on 5th May. There is a very full women’s category of 10 teams, ensuring tough competition. It’s been a very wet spring in Ireland. We are hoping for some sunshine on our regatta days.
