Česky
The traditional dragon boat race on the Berounka River in Beroun was attended for the second time on Saturday, September 2, by representatives of Multiscan from Pardubice and together with them also crews from our sister hospitals from Beroun and Hořovice. A record 38 crews took part in the 12th edition of the Beroun Dragon this year.
This year, one crew from Hořovice and one from Beroun entered the race, as well as one crew of employees of the Multiscan Oncology Centre in Pardubice, which was complemented by our colleagues from the Prague headquarters. The competition started informally on Friday, September 1. This day was originally supposed to be devoted to crew training and arranging strategy. However, this year it did not take place due to a heavy downpour. Fortunately, the weather cleared up the next day. The crew from Hořovice and Beroun did very well. Hořovice kites for the first time placed 14th out of 38 crews (last year they were 19th and 22nd), while the Beroun crew took 22nd place. All the crews recorded better times in the first round of the competition in the 200m course, as the fatigue of several individual members showed up considerably in the second round.
Although our crew finished among the last in their second participation in this competition, the biggest reward for all was to spend a pleasant day by the Berounka river, to have a chance to talk in a completely informal environment, to have some fun and to relax from the demanding and highly responsible work.
The boats, derived from the god of waters - the dragon, are 12.5 metres long and can accommodate twenty paddlers, 10 on the left and 10 on the right. The final twenty-two crew members are then supplemented by a coxswain standing at the stern and a drummer sitting on a high stool at the front, who beats a leather drum to set the rhythm of the paddling. The bows and sterns of the boats are decorated with a carved dragon's head and tail.
"I was very happy to be able to participate this year. Traditionally, we were in better shape on Friday night than during the races themselves, which was confirmed by the race commentator who described us as trippers. We originally thought we would 'box', but our performance was enough for a nice penultimate place as the competition was really tough. Nevertheless, we did not feel disappointed, because dragon boats are all about team building," says Jan Beneš, sales consultant of Multiscan from Pardubice.
"This is my third time at the Dragon Boats. It's a great event where you have a great time and sport, and you meet people you usually only meet at work. It's a pity that even more colleagues from Pardubice didn't come, maybe next year," says Lenka Lučaníková, assistant director from our Prague headquarters.
"The dragon boats, in conjunction with the adjacent pilgrimage, are an ideal event for an informal meeting with colleagues and friends. This year I took my whole family and everyone had a great time. Only the resulting time is a bit demotivating. We should get together occasionally outside of this event and practice a bit," said František Vlček, M.D., Ph.D., MHA, our Medical Group Deputy for Process, Quality and Efficiency.
We hope to train harder, travel from Pardubice in even greater numbers and have a better result next year!
