THREE Bathurst Pan Dragons are set to take their talents to the international stage, after impressing at the Australian titles.
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Haidyn and Jacob Waldron, alongside Lucy Downey will head to Italy in September for the World Club Crew Championship, where they'll represent the Sydney Zodiacs team.
The championship will be held in the northern Italian city of Ravenna, off the Adriatic Sea, from September 3-8.
This opportunity for the Bathurst trio comes after an impressive performance for the club members at the Australian National Dragon Boat Championship at Perth in April.
The team had been preparing diligently for months, training every fortnight despite some members having to travel for sessions, with the club receiving support from the Masonic Lodge Bathurst to make the trip to Perth possible.
At the championship, Deb Clarke, Graeme Housler, and Caitlin Waldron represented Western NSW in various categories such as opens, women's, and mixed races over 500 metres and two kilometres.
While they narrowly missed out on a podium finish by 0.04 seconds in one event, their performances were highly commendable.
Jacob and Haidyn Waldron achieved notable success, with Jacob winning gold in the under 24s category and both contributing to the under 18s NSW team's dominance across multiple races.
Downey joined the two Waldrons to compete for the Sydney Zodiacs in junior races, securing an impressive tally of five gold medals, along with a silver and a bronze in different race distances.
Additionally, the Zodiacs fielded an under 24s women's, opens, and mixed teams, with the under 24s women's small boat team achieving a historic bronze in both the 500 metre and two kilometre races.
Despite the cold winter days, the Bathurst Pan Dragons continue their training at Ben Chifley Dam, welcoming anyone over 10 years old to join and experience dragon boat paddling first hand.
