COVID-19 has forced the cancellation of another noteworthy Osoyoos festival. The Osoyoos Lake Paddling Club (OLPC) has cancelled the 2020 Osoyoos Flag Race that was set to take place on September 18 and 19.
The two day festival drew hundreds of participants and spectators to the town in previous years, with twelve teams of roughly 30 signed up for this year’s festival. The club was forced to cancel the event in June when it became clear that team members could not comply with health and safety guidelines while in the boats.
Peter Munro, president of the OLPC, said festivals across the province and country have been cancelled this summer.
“All dragon boating across the province and possibly across the country has come to a grinding halt because of what’s happened with COVID,” said Munro. “So all the festivals that are in B.C., they’ve all had to be cancelled this year. Unfortunately, that does include our festival.”
Munro said his club has been following the guidance of Dragon Boat Canada (DBC), the governing body for the sport in the country.
The DBC’s website outlines protocols for athletes to safely return to the water. But due to the size of teams and number of people needed to participate in the sport, all racing and official events have been cancelled.
Dragon boat teams usually hold between 22 to 24 participants, with more team members and support on shore. All participants are seated in pairs with close proximity to team members in front and behind. In the twelve metre dragon boats, two metre physical distancing is impossible to meet unless the number of athletes in a boat is drastically reduced.
“At present, our crews are unable to train or to race as the numbers allowed to congregate and the maintenance of social distancing would not lend itself to adherence of the guidelines mandated by our public health department,” reads DBC’s guidelines for returning to the water.
Munro said they have been advised that teams of four or five could return to the boat, but that is just not practical.
“That would include a steerer. We normally would have 20 people in a boat. Four or five of them in a boat would be impossible,” he said.
As a result, Munro thinks the Osoyoos team is unlikely to get back on the water this season. He and the rest of the club are eagerly awaiting next summer, when they can get back to racing. The club has already scheduled next year’s flag race for September 17 and 18, 2021.
