Dragon Boat racing came to Wirral for the first time when a charity event was held on West Kirby’s marine lake. The event was jointly staged by Calday Grange Grammar School and the Rotary Club of Mid Wirral, who teamed up with professional Dragon Boat racing organiser 4 Dragons Ltd.
More than 20 teams took part in the race on Saturday, in aid of Bob Champion’s cancer charity and other local good causes. Teams from the boys’ grammar school, made up of staff and students, raced against teams from the community including Merseyside Police and other local public sector teams, as well as teams from private companies.
Champion himself was on hand to present the trophies. The former jockey and cancer survivor became famous for riding Aldaniti to victory in the 1981 Grand National. He is now a fundraiser for the charity which bears his name, one of the few supporting research into male cancer.
Some teams had laid down the gauntlet early on with excellent times being posted by Chief’s Challengers (Merseyside Police), Well Oiled Cogs (Church of the Good Shepherd) and a particularly fast Upper 6th form from Calday Grange.
Though the 6th formers had been performing well all day the benchmark was set by Chief’s Challengers who managed to pull the fastest recorded time of the day. This team of high-ranking Merseyside Police Officers balanced good fun with a ruthless sporting efficiency, it was no wonder they were favourites to win.
In the Final it was a close win for Calday Upper 6th form and a second place for Calday Lower 6th form ensuring bragging rights by the more senior of the scholars on Monday morning. Chief’s Challengers came in a very close third in what was one of the closest races of the day. Both Calday Lower 6th form and Chief’s Challengers teams were magnanimous and applauded the winning team through the boat marshalling area.
Though being a slick operation all day the event was not without its drama at the end. The information provided to the presenter of the awards showed 3rd place as winners and the winners as 3rd place. Fortunately this glitch was identified very quickly and the rightful winners celebrated in some style.
The Chief’s Challengers were lead by Wirral’s Area Commander, Chief Superintendent Jon Ward, and the crew was made up of officers from across the Borough. After the event Mr Ward reflected, “As I look back on yesterday I think we were unfortunate not to win and clearly the winners should have been the team who did the quickest run of the day - but that could be me just being a bad looser!! I had a great day yesterday and thanks to all for taking part.�
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