The Sunshine Coast was well-represented at the recent B.C. Seniors Games in Richmond, with several athletes coming home with medals.
Two dragon boat teams competed. Both were composite teams with paddlers from all four Sunshine Dragons teams. The mixed team was Dragons in Motion with coach Els Mol, and the women's team was Sunshine Coast Dragons, coached by Carol Standfield.
The race site was the UBC Boat House in Richmond. The teams competed on the Fraser River, just upstream from the spectacular Olympic Oval where the opening ceremonies were held.
Both teams had some brilliant races. The women's team won both their first two races and placed fourth in the A final. The mixed team also won two races, including the consolation A and came fifth overall. The steerspeople had their skills tested as the boats had to pass under the Dinsmore Bridge in swirling water, where the changing currents came from the tides and the flow of the river.
In the pool, six swimmers brought back 15 medals (five gold, four silver and six bronze), led by a great performance from Bruce McDonald, who garnered seven medals, including three golds.
The team started training in earnest in April, after Stacey Yasinowski, Sunshine Coast Regional District swim director, initiated a special training program and assigned Pat Dickie to coach the team twice a week. Everyone's technique and performance improved significantly, in particular, Manfred Baur, who was able to knock a combined three minutes off his last year's 800m and 400m events.
Next year's competition will be held in Nanaimo, and everyone is looking forward to an exciting and enjoyable competition, and to better this year's performance.
Three Sechelt Legion dart players earned medals.
Ron Pruden won gold in the team event, Grace Shearsmith won gold and bronze in the team and mixed doubles events and John Chartrand won a bronze in men's doubles.
Dennis Johnson and Ken Matheson just missed out on the medals, with fourth place finishes in the singles and team events.
In golf, Sechelt's Jim Heney won a gold medal.
After day one of the competition, Heney fired a 78 giving him a four-stroke lead over the other 15 zone players in his age and handicap group.
He shot an 80 on day two and emerged the winner of the gross and net divisions in the 55 to 59 age group. He received his gold medal for the net division in the 55 to 59 age group.
