LUMEN Issue 11 - June 2016 | Page 8

Victory never tasted so sweet especially when it is such a long-awaited one .
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LUMEN | ACHIEVEMENTS

Canoeists Victory

Claim 15-year Hiatus after a

By Gereon Chan

Victory never tasted so sweet especially when it is such a long-awaited one .

From 11 to 14 April , the SJI Canoeing Team took part in the National Inter-School Canoeing Championships . After months of regimented , gruelling and enervating training the canoeists brought glory to their alma mater , clinching an overall 1st runner up in the C Division and emerging the B Division Champion . The last time SJI was first in the B Division was in 2001 .

The journey began in 2014 for the B Division team when after we achieved the C
Division title , leading by a large margin . This spurred the whole SJI Canoeing Team on to strive for the B Division title . Every member of the canoeing team put in our utmost effort both on water and land , physically and emotionally ( encouraging and pushing one another beyond their limits ). Camaraderie was obvious , and commitment was not lacking either , with many members attaining more than a 100 % attendance for termly consolidated training sessions . This built everyone not only physically , but bonded us closer as a family .
“ Training was repetitive and exhausting , and sometimes it seemed pointless . However , seeing that we had friends to get through the tough times