mlands Dragons brave wind and weather at the Greifswald Dragon Boat Race

With great team spirit, sporting ambition, and plenty of good humor, our team, the "mlands Drachen" took to the starting line at this year's Dragon Boat Race in Greifswald.

The weather forecast for race day initially looked far from promising, with rain and unsettled conditions predicted throughout the day. Fortunately, our team was lucky enough to complete all races without getting wet from above. At times, the sun even made an appearance. However, the strong wind posed a significant challenge for our paddlers, creating additional resistance along the course.

The first race on the 250-meter sprint course was somewhat chaotic, resulting in the mlands Dragons being assigned to the FUN category. The time achieved in the second race determined which placement the team would compete for in the third and final sprint race.

The second race got off to a much better start. The team quickly found its rhythm and gave its all from start to finish. Due to the headwind, however, the clock stopped at 1:17.34 minutes, making it the team's slowest time of the day. This meant that the third race would decide 7th place. In that final sprint, the mlands Dragons improved their performance once again, finishing in 1:14.52 minutes. Despite the strong effort, the fierce competition proved just a little too strong, and our team ultimately secured 9th place. Considering that a total of 24 FUN teams competed in the sprint category, this was still a very respectable result.

The team then delivered its strongest performance of the day in the 1,350-meter long-distance race. Benefiting from both the current and a tailwind, the mlands Dragons put in an impressive performance and crossed the finish line in 6:38.68 minutes, earning an excellent 18th place out of 34 participating teams.

Overall, our team looks back on a highly successful day of competition. While the sporting achievements were certainly noteworthy, the real highlights were the shared enjoyment, the positive atmosphere, and the strong sense of teamwork. Not even the occasional rain showers or a leaking pavilion could dampen our spirits.