Army tops main race over Navy

PHILIPPINE Army reasserted its mastery under windy conditions to rule the men’s 300-meter standard race during the kickoff leg of the 2015 Cobra Energy Drink-PDBF Dragon Boat Regatta last weekend at Manila Bay.

The defending overall champion Armymen  surged ahead in the last 100 meters to turn back arch rival Philippine Navy with a time of one minute  7.67 seconds in the event backed by the Philippine Dragon Boat Federation (PDBF).

The Navy bets checked in second at 1:08.87, Triton A wound up third (1:09.73) and Maharlika, a pioneer club of the PDBF, reached the finals for the first time in more than a decade and placed fourth (1:13.01).

“We knew that Navy is strong, so we really tried our best in this race,” said Army skipper Usman Anterola.

Earlier, Navy nosed out Philippine Coast Guard in the women’s small boat 300-meter race in 1:23.05. Philippine Coast Guard clocked 1:23.57 for second and Triton A placed third (1:27.05).

The Coast Guard paddlers bounced back  by capturing the mixed 300-meter standard title in 1:10.53. They slipped past Navy (1:11.42), One Piece (1:12.58) and PBP (1:13.17).

PDBF president Marcia Cristobal said they are in the process of selecting the members of the team that will compete in the International Dragon Boat Federation World Championships set August in Canada.  June Navarro