Army rowers cop 2 golds in Italy tiff

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Army blitzed its way to the gold medals in the small boat 200-meter and 500-meter races as it dominated the ninth International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) Club Crew Championships that ended over the weekend in Ravenna, Italy.

The Armymen asserted their dominance in the 10-seater 200-m premier open competitions, finishing the race in 48.92 to beat two rivals from Germany – All Sports Team Hanover (49.964) and PG Mannheim (50.829) – for the top plum.

The Pinoy paddlers repeated their golden performance in the 500-m distance, logging a winning time of 2:06.763 to leave a pair of Germany clubs – All-Sports Hanover (2:07.607) and PSV Uckermark e.V. Prenzlau (2:11.164) – settling for silver and bronze, respectively.

“Lahat ng paghihirap namin nagbunga. Inaalay namin ito sa lahat ng Pilipino at sa Army (All our hard work paid off. These two gold medals are for all Filipino people and the armed forces),” said SSgt. Joemar Ocquiana, the team’s boat pacer.

Army earlier competed in the small boat 2,000-m race but fell short of a podium finish. The Filipino servicemen clocked 10:26.600 for fifth behind winner PG Mannheim (10:00.270), runner-up Dragonmasters Urom (10:10.120), third-placer Mariner Dragon Team Roma (10:19.640) and No. 4 WSAP Sportsteam Hamburg (10:20.350).