Dragon boat crews finish within whisker

Spokane’s dragon boat races went down to the wire Sunday, with the top three teams finishing within less than a second of each other.

The top finisher was a team from Itron, with a time of 1 minute, 12 seconds and 9 hundredths of a second (1:12:09). The second place team was Essie Casey Dragon Flies (a team from the Spokane Canoe and Kayak Club), which finished in 1:12:14. The third place team was Dragon R Butts (a team from the company MatriCal), which finished in 1:12:19.

“It was an exciting finish,” said race organizer Jennifer Priest.

The event raised $5,600 for the North Bench project, a picnic area designated for the north bank of the Spokane River at the Sandifur Bridge, where a whitewater park is planned.

The 250-meter races began upstream of the Division Street bridge and finished almost directly below it, with part of Division’s northbound lanes closed to make room for spectators.

All the racers were novices to the sport, in which 20 people paddle 46-foot-long boats. Each boat also has a drummer and someone who steers, Priest said.

The boats come from Vancouver, B.C., from a company that builds them and takes them all over the place, Priest said.

“Dragon boating is huge in Canada,” she said, adding, “That’s our hope, to grow it here in Spokane.”

Priest said it’s not so much the strength of the paddlers that makes a team excel.

“What makes you competitive is to be able to paddle in unison,” she said.