Army dominates Zambales dragon boat races

World champion Philippine Army stamped its class by topping two events in the men’s race while De La Salle University dominated as many events in the women's contest in the 1st Zambales Dragon Boat Festival staged on placid and picturesque Uacon Lake in Candelaria,  Zambales. The Armymen, who dominated the 2011 world championships in Tampa, Florida, topped the 400-meter race in one minute and 35.65 seconds, shoving La Salle (1:41:49) and Onslaught Racing Dragons (1:42.98) to second and third, respectively. Triton Team A was fourth (1:48.14). They continued their dominance in the 250m race with a time of 1:03:88, beating Onslaught Racing Dragons by 5.94 seconds. La Salle was third this time (1:11.60). La Salle ruled the women's 400m with 2:11:96 and repeated in the 250m with 1:26:28. Triton Team A was second in both events, finishing 2:24:20 in the and 1:28:97, respectively. Triton Team B was third in the 400m (2:26.20) and Onslaught fourth (2:39.63). In the 250m, Triton B was also third (1:40.72) and Onslaught again fourth (1:44.68). La Salle was also victorious in the 400m mixed category with 1:11.09, followed by Triton A (1:49.31), Triton B (1:50.98) and RCP (1:51.18). In the 200m mixed, Triton A won with 1:11.09, followed by La Salle (1:11.87), Triton B (1:17.73) and RCP 1:18.05). A 400m race among local rowers was also staged with Lucapon North winning in 1:50.78, followed by Red Theme (1:53.14), Team Sentinel Dragons (1:53.42) and Lucapon South (1:54.00). A total of 16 teams participated in the event held in cooperation with the Philippine Dragon Boat Federation (PBDF). The top three placers received trophies and cash prizes worth P30,000, P20,000 and P10,000, respectively. — JVP/KG, GMA News