Canoeists from Hemel Hempstead have roared to success at the European Dragon Boat Championships.
Shirine Voller, Chris Preston, Mark Petersen and Mark Taylor competed in the Great Britain Women's and Mens' Open and Senior teams respectively, in the searing late-summer heat of Sabaudia, Italy, last weekend.
The women paddled their way to three medals: silver in the 2000m and 500m events and a bronze in the 200m, losing out by just a fraction of a second in each race.
Shirine Voller, who competed for the women, said: "I've never felt such an adrenaline surge as sitting on the start line in the 200m event. One mistake and the race would've been all over."
Mark Taylor was one of the stalwarts of the Senior Men's team in all the events. They won bronze and silver in the 2000m and 500m events respectively.
The GB Open Men's team was well represented by HHCC, with members Chris Preston and Mark Peterson on board.
Up against 13 strong sides from around Europe, the seniors were unlucky not to take home any medals this time around.
They missed out on bronze by just 0.2 seconds in their 500m race, with just 0.7 second separating them from first place.
"We were fairly and squarely pipped to the post by crews with Olympic kayakers on board in the 500m," said Chris.
"We simply did not have the muscle to maintain our quick start."
Dragon Boat racing began over 2000 years ago in China, and is still going strong today.
Nowadays the sport involves teams of up to twenty paddlers in a 40 foot boat accompanied by a drummer and helm, paddling frantically to beat the other teams down the course.
Prague hosts the next World Dragon Boat Championships in 2009, with Amsterdam the venue for the 2010 European Championships.
HHCC hosts its annual race this Sunday, with several hundred competitors from clubs around the country flocking to Hemel Hempstead for the four, eight and 12 mile races.
"It's a great day out for spectators and anyone is welcome to come along to watch and support from the towpath," added Shirine.
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