The fact that there was no womens division in Richmonds annual "Rip Up the River" didnt stop the Pemberton Spirit womens dragon boat team from competing anyway and qualifying for the finals in B Division.
With an even mix of rookies and veterans going into this season, the Spirit have improved with every race, and the regatta was no different. Last Saturday they burned up the qualifier to earn a spot in the B Division finals with a time of two minutes 13.8 seconds. They were the fastest womens team with a combined time of 6:07.18 over three races. In one race they were six seconds faster than the next best womens team.
Spirit were also the only womens team to qualify for a spot in the finals of the top two divisions.
They finished last in that heat against co-ed and male teams, and finished 12 th out of 24 teams.
The next race for the Spirit is the Kelowna Dragon Boat Festival on Sept. 13 and 14.