The Fort Langley Canoe Club's women's dragon boat teams pushed past most of the competition at the recently completed 2012 BC Seniors Games.

Two FLCC teams participated in the age 55-plus dragon boat competition at the games, which ran Aug. 21-24 in Burnaby.

One of those teams, Fast & Furious, won gold by defeating 11 other teams from across the province.

The winning senior squad was built around the older paddlers from the Fast & Furious team which medaled at the World Club Crew Championships in Hong Kong [Crew bronzed in Hong Kong, July 26, Langley Advance].

Additional paddlers were recruited from within the club to fill out the complement of 20 paddlers.

For five members of the team, this marked their fourth consecutive gold medal as paddlers for the FLCC women at the BC Seniors Games.

Fast & Furious's first race was very exciting with the FLCC crew winning by fractions of a second.

The local paddlers seemed to regain their form in the subsequent three races, defeating their nearest opponent by at least a boat length.

If the excitement of winning the gold wasn't enough, another thrill came when the Fast & Furious paddlers received their gold medals from Canadian Olympian women's eight rower Krista Guloien, who brought with her the silver medal she won at the London 2012 Olympics for all to savour and share in her's and Canada's successes.

It was a great competition overall for the club.

The FLCC Phoenix senior women's team placed first in the women's B division with a time that would have given them bronze in the A division.

FLCC Fortified mixed dragon boat team placed first in the mixed B divisions finals, and fifth in a field of 11 mixed teams.

Commodore Cheryl MacIntosh said the FLCC has a very strong and active dragon boat program.

MacIntosh said the club offers kayaking, outrigger and voyageur canoeing and dragon boating, and currently has three mixed and nine women's dragon boat teams of all levels - recreational to competitive - so it offers a space for everyone, no matter what skill level.

"We were thrilled to have three dragon boat teams competing at the BC Seniors Games and they all placed well, especially FLCC Fast & Furious who won gold in the women's A division," MacIntosh said.

Fast & Furious and Fortified are full-time teams while Phoenix formed with women from several FLCC teams who wanted to compete at the games, MacIntosh noted.

"The BC Seniors Games offered an opportunity for FLCC members to show their abilities and have fun with other seniors from all over the province," MacIntosh said.