Wednesday 22 April 2020 11:53am
Much laughter and camaraderie was shared when a team of 20 staff and students from the University of Otago, Wellington banded together to compete in the Dragon Boat Festival on Wellington Harbour on 7 March.
Organiser Chontelle King from the school's U-Owls social club says the team included staff and students from a diverse cross section of the campus including academic and support staff, undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Ms King, who is a Research Assistant in the Department of Paediatrics, says it was a great way to get to know people from different departments.
"It was really nice to walk through the halls on campus afterwards and not only recognise and know the members of our team – but have a shared experience that we can laugh about."
“It was really nice to walk through the halls on campus afterwards and not only recognise and know the members of our team – but have a shared experience that we can laugh about.”
One of those shared experiences involves the laughter which always greeted the instruction by coach Calum Bennachie to paddle “harder, deeper, longer” in practice sessions.
Third-year Radiation Therapy student Olivia Pattinson says she had a wonderful time learning the art of Dragon Boat racing but in her first training session her paddle stroke was too long.
“This created a large back splash, causing our coach to get very wet as he stood behind me. The coach threatened to splash me back if I did not improve my technique!”
The team practised once a week for the eight weeks before the event, and also had one extra training session in the final week.
Ms King says being in the boat on a sunny Wellington day with other staff and students was incredible fun and a true Wellington experience.
“During every post-race debrief we all huddled together and talked about how the race went. No matter how well or badly we did, everyone was really encouraging and positive.”
Ms King says the team was lucky that the festival went ahead as planned, given the first case of COVID-19 in Wellington was confirmed the day before.
"It feels like an absolute dream now. We were all much closer than two metres from each other, and were constantly giving each other high fives."
“It feels like an absolute dream now. We were all much closer than two metres from each other, and were constantly giving each other high fives.”
Ms King says it was a challenge finding enough people to commit to the event.
“I am especially grateful to Radiation Therapy student Tessa Sherlock who managed to convince so many Radiation Therapy students – and even the acting Head of Department (Billie Mudie) to join the team.”
It is the third year that the University of Otago, Wellington, has entered a team in the Dragon Boat Festival, with teams previously racing in 2016 and in 2017. This year's team finished third of three in a participation final, but had an awesome day, Ms King says.
The team, led by Chontelle King, was made up of: Sophie Petelaud (Medicine Programme Coordinator); Dr Christopher Smith (Research Assistant, Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine); Shan Valiyara (Lead Administrator, Departments of Public Health, Psychological Medicine); Kerrie Harford (Client Services Administrator, Department of Psychological Medicine) and husband John; Libby McGuire (Client Services Administrator, Department of Medicine); Dr Claire Henry (Research Fellow, Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Women's Health) and husband Tristan Myers; Zrinka Kraljevic (Client Services Administrator); Kim Rooke (Lead Administrator, Departments of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Surgery and Anaesthesia, Radiation Therapy); Carla Strubbia (PhD student) and husband Eric; Billie Mudie (Acting HOD, Department of Radiation Therapy); Heather Neil (Administrator Client Services, Department of Surgery and Anaesthesia); Dr Hemakumar Devan (Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Physiotherapy); Fiona Mathieson (Senior Clinical Psychologist and Lecturer, Department of Psychological Medicine); Fab Facchini (Senior IT technician); Radiation Therapy students Tessa Sherlock, Olivia Pattinson, Louis Pretorius and Nadia Kahan; and former Physiotherapy student Olivia de Ronde.
The University of Otago, Wellington's 2020 Dragon Boat team at the event in early March. Photo (and video above): Luke Pilkinton-Ching.