The BL Pinks competed in 200m on Saturday 26 April and 500m on Sunday 27 April in the small boat category.  The competition was 9 teams strong with Sydney Spirit and Brisbane River Dragons (BRD aka Missabittatitti) were expected to take 1st and 2nd places with the remaining 7 teams fighting for 3rd.

In the 200m event, the heats were won by Sydney Spirit and Pendragons and BRD had the next fastest time and progressed  to the final.  BL Pinks then competed in the repechage and came second to DAA Hope and we knew we had to lift for the final to be in contention for a bronze medal.  In the final, Sydney Spirit won with a time of 1:03.57 , BRD came 2nd in 1:04.93 and Pendragons came a convincing 3rd in 1:07.13.  BL Pinks finished a strong 4th in 1:09.11, an improvement of 0.8 seconds over the repechage.  Our best time for the event was in the heat in 1:07.98.

We felt we were in a better position for the 500m, especially as we had beaten Pendragons in the State Championship just a few weeks prior.  Sydney Spirit and BRD won the heats and Pendragons had the next fastest time, just 0.35 seconds ahead of BL Pinks, to progress straight to the final.  BL Pinks had a convincing win in the repechage and a margin of 3.92 seconds over the 2nd team DAA Hope.  In the final, we knew we were in a good position and we put everything on the line.  Sydney Spirit won in 2:47.84, BRD came 2nd in 2:54.26 and Pendragons came home strong to get 3rd in 2:58.98, just 0.04 seconds ahead of BL Pinks.  This was our best time and oh so close to winning a medal!  Fabulous results and we look forward to a rematch in coming events.  

Thanks Wynette for the above Pinks report.

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Tuesday 29th April

Day 4  (500 metres) started off with light winds, warm, bright and sunny weather. Conditions were perfect.

Snr C Mixed standard boat was first up with a narrow win (2:15.74) over Kin Dragons (2:15.76). Beiloon posted 3rd (2:16.16) behind Brisbane River Dragons (BRD) & KIN in race 2. The final race saw Beiloon post 2nd place (2:14.65) behind KIN in 2:14.07.

After times were combined it was a silver medal for the Snr C team. A first Snr C medal for Beiloon ever.  Great work.

 Snr B Mixed small boat followed in the next race after the Snr C on each occasion, and it was fortunate we had the numbers to cater for this clash. Beiloon won the first heat in (2:24.56) and progressed directly to the final. Beiloon placed 2nd in the final in (2:24.95) behind Nowra (2:23.75).

It was a silver medal for the Snr B team. Well done.

 Next up was the Snr B women’s standard boat with 3 race times combined to determine the winner. The girl’s won race 1 in (2:21.96), narrowly ahead on Peninsular Dragonfly’s in (2:22.03).  Dragonfly’s (2:20.89) pipped Beiloon (2:21.90) into 2nd in race 2. Beiloon (2:23.60) won race 3 ahead of Dragonfly’s (2:24.32).

When the times were added it was a silver medal for the Snr B women’s team.   

 Snr B Open 10’s was the final event with 13 teams, heats, repechages and a Grand Final.

The team ran 4th (2:26.09) in heat 1 and progressed to the repechage. They won the repechage in (2:17.91) ahead of DSA (2:20.85) and moved to the Grand Final, where they placed 4th behind some strong teams.

 The organisers did a great job of pushing through the race program and we finished early. This was lucky as the day finished with storms, lightning and torrential rain.

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Wednesday 30thApril

Day 5 200 metres racing unfolded with cold, wet, windy and somewhat miserable conditions. Lanes 4, 5, 6 & 7 were sheltered and should have been marginally faster, but it was difficult to gauge if there was an advantage over lanes 1, 2 & 3.

Snr B mixed small boat was first up.  Beiloon won the first heat in 57.25 and again progressed directly to the Grand Final.  In the semi, Beiloon ran 2nd in (58.18). A tight Grand Final saw Beiloon (58.26) run 4th.

 Snr C mixed standard boat followed the Snr B this time. Beiloon (54.28) came a close 2nd behind KIN (54.22) in round 1.  BRD (53.48) won round 2 in front of KiIN & Beiloon (54.93). A mighty effort in round 3 saw Beiloon post 2nd in (54.01) behind BRD (53.91).

After times were combined it was a bronze medal for the Snr C team.  Well done.

 Snr B women’s standard boat was next up with times from 3 rounds combined. Beiloon ‘blitzed’ round 1 in (57.08). They won the next round in (57.57). Round 3 saw Beiloon post an even faster time of (57.16) – it was a clean sweep.  

After times were combined it was a gold medal for the Snr B women’s team.

 Snr B Open small boat was the last event for us. They ran 4th in heat 1 (56.68) and progressed to the repechage. A 2nd (55.09) in the repechage saw an agonizing wait, but eventual qualification for the Grand Final. They ran 5th in the Grand Final (54.45).

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Thursday 1st May

Day 6 2000 metres racing was a little brighter but still cold and windy. Steve gave us all a well-deserved sleep in, and we arrived by 0730am, rather than 0700am. We only had 4 races and a 0930am start.

As of today (3/5/2025), times have not been loaded by AUSDBF on their website, but we all know what happened anyway.

Snr C mixed standard boat was first up with a credible close 4th.

 Snr B mixed small boat terrorized the rest of the field and won a gold medal.  Nice work.

 Snr B women standard boat once again ‘hammered’ the rest of the field and won a gold medal by 0.5 seconds.

 Snr B open small boat resembled an epic Greek tragedy. Beiloon set the field alight with inspired racing and passed most other crews. The race caller was in a lather with excitement over the performance, but unfortunately, a small touch on DSA resulted in a penalty, and the team placed 4th or 5th after a very lengthy wait.

It was a great race and an epic performance by the men involved, and it should be remembered as a silver medal (that was not presented). 2K races can be exciting and unpredictable, that’s for sure.