Sam de Guzman
“It's a tough choice between these two favorite memories:
Our first HK Internationals race was in 2014; we had an ok run. We won a few categories and placed in the others. After the awards that Saturday, we treated ourselves with pints during the beerfest. It was well past 11pm when our manager surprised us that we qualified for the grand championships the next day! We were all so happy. It was our first time at Internationals, and to be given the opportunity to paddle with the best of the best was a dream come true.
All that excitement crashed and burned when we found out that our first race of the day was at 7am. Needless to say, it was a very interesting first race. But we still finished first despite feeling like sh*t, so yey for us!
Our first international race at the DBS Marina Regatta 2014; the energy at the race was something else. Being our first international race as a team, we felt like we had a lot to prove, especially since we carried the Hong Kong Disneyland name. Corporate races are usually exhibition races for most, but not this one; most of the teams were really strong and they looked like their main job was to go to the gym and train. Day 1 was good; we got 2nd overall in the 250m open category.
We were all pumped for day 2, the 500m open races. We felt we were better at longer distances, so we were excited for the races to start. When we got to the venue, it rained. Hard. The organizers had to postpone the races because the weather just wasn't good for us to paddle in. In true Team Mushu fashion, this silly rain wouldn't "rain" on our parade 😏. While waiting for the weather to improve, we spent the better part of the day visiting other teams and taking photos with them. It was cool meeting all the other teams at the event. Soon after the rain stopped, races resumed and we won the 500m open category. And since the 500m race had more points than the 250m one, we won the overall open category! Yey for us again!”
[Sam de Guzman (Hong Kong & Philippines), paddler on Buzz Dragon, ex-paddler on Team Mushu for Hong Kong Disneyland.]
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