Dragon boat crews ready to race

DRAGON boats will descend upon the Dearne Valley this weekend for a charity boat race.

The competition will take place on Manvers Lake in Wath on Sunday and will see more than 30 crews from regional companies and organisations take part.

The 200m race is in aid of PHASE Worldwide which raises funds to help those in remote Himalayan communities by providing health care, education and road transport.

And organisers are hoping to attract a big crowd for the event from 10.30am until 4.30pm.

Karen Shamwell is the crew manager for a team of teachers and parents from Wath Central Primary School, which has been been practising on the lake.

She said: “We’ve got some quite strong competition but we’re looking forward to the challenge.”

An ancient Chinese tradition, dragon boat racing features a crew of ten paddlers and a beating drummer.

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