Cebu’s PADS seals bid with 4 golds at Worlds
CEBU, Philippines — As summed up by their team manager John Paul Maunes in a short but meaningful Facebook post, it's mission accomplished for Cebu's renowned Philippine Accessible Disability Services, Inc. (PADS) Dragon Boat Team in the International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) 13th Club Crew World Championships.
The races took place at the Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida in the United States.
"Mission accomplished! To God be the glory," Maunes wrote on social media.
The spirited Cebuano paddlers capped their stellar showing in the six-day competition with a golden performance in the 500-meter race of the Small Boat (SB) Paradragon (PD)-2 open category. Paddling their way in perfect harmony, the mainstays of PADS reached the finish line with the fastest time of two minutes and 19.015 seconds.
They outclassed two host teams, the Para Fusion Sarasota and Para United Sarasota who settled for the silver and bronze medals with a 2:28.840 and 2:29.548 clockings, respectively.
The USA Adaptive Fusion Artesia and the Washington DC Boat Club completed the top five finishers with a time of 2:30.256 and 2:53.826.
In all, the PADS pocketed a total of four gold medals in what is by far their most successful campaign on the international stage.
The 25-man squad composed mostly of persons with disabilities kicked off their bid on a bright note after emerging as champions in the 2,000 race distance of the SB PD-2. Drawing more firepower from that morale-boosting triumph, they produced a golden double in the SB PD-1 and SB PD-2 200m open race. — JMO (FREEMAN)
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