Breathing fire
Cobra Energy Drink Philippine dragon team. Photo by June Navarro
CHANGZHOU, China—The Cobra Energy Drink Philippine Dragon Boat team quickly responded to rainy conditions to stay in the hunt for a gold medal.
A pause from the downpour allowed the Filipinos to make a key adjustment that kept them in the semifinals of the standard mixed 500-meter race in Day 2 of the International Dragon Boat Federation World Cup Saturday.
“We made adjustments in the seating arrangement,” said Filipino helmsman Ailene Padrones. “Those who are heavy occupied the back seat while the lighter ones occupied the front rows.”
It created wonders for the Pinoy paddlers, who clocked two minutes and 3.523 seconds in the repechage to make the semifinals at Wujin Taihu Bay Resort.
The 500m defending world champions are seeded seventh in Sunday’s semifinal round in the company of Canada, China 1, Thailand, China 2, Russia, Chinese Taipei and Germany.
The Filipinos earlier placed third in the third of four heats where the winners automatically made it into the next round, relegating them to the repechage races.
They finished second closely behind Russia’s 2:03.428 in the repechage 2.
The Cobra paddlers are out of the 200m but are still in contention in the semifinals of the 400m team relay and the standard 100m race, where they will be also defending the title.
