Colleen Daly represented Canada on the world stage. The Kemptville native competed at the World Dragon Boat Racing Championships, held in Thailand last month.
Daly decided to try out for the national team (Senior B division) after dragon boating for over 10 years. Canada took home 85 medals from the competition, bested only by Thailand, which finished with 94 medals. A total of 4,000 athletes from 30 countries took part.
Daly says it was an opportunity of a lifetime. She explained you work so hard to achieve a goal and once you’re there, competing against great athletes from around the world, it’s quite exciting. Daly noted it was an honour representing Canada.
She says it’s definitely a team sport. Daly explained there’s an old saying that you don’t want to stand out in dragon boating – you just want to blend in with everyone else in the boat.
Daly brought home gold, silver and bronze medals. She is hoping to compete again in 2021.