Team GB Dragonboat - Vicki Easton
Vicki has been involved in sport all her life both personally and professionally. Growing up in St Agnes in Cornwall as a junior she held top 20 UK Rankings in Athletics in the discipline of Heptathlon. She was also a county hockey player for many years. From the age of 11 all she ever wanted was a Great Britain vest.
Unfortunately she dislocated her knee cap at the age of 17 and her athletics career stopped prematurely. Trying to remain fit but with constant set backs saw the next 10 years an uphill struggle with a few surgeries to try and fix the knee and many failed attempts to compete again. Having to accept that high level competitive sport was not on the horizon anymore she was utterly devastated.
A new career took Vicki to Hong Kong in 2011 and being brand new to Asia, Vicki decided to take up dragonboating. Mainly to make friends in this new country but also as a way to get fit. She met a bunch of great people who introduced her to this new ‘knee’ friendly sport. Hooked!
After 3 seasons with her first team The Tai Tam Tigers, Vicki was approached by the ladies captain of Stormy Dragons and invited to join the clubs ladies crew at the end of 2013. This was a considerable jump in commitment and training from her once a week jolly social sport to competing at the top level in Hong Kong – a new game plan was required.
Vicki went to work, dropped 10kg in weight and got to a level of fitness that she thought was never possible given that she couldn't manage a full squat since her injury. Stormy Dragons qualified for the Club Crew World Championships (CCWC)and in order to get a seat in the women’s and mixed crews a series of time trials where required. Vicki has the stealth determination to give it everything she has to reach a goal and not only did she make both crews she qualified with the top time for women in the club and even beat some of the guys along the way.
After returning from CCWC with a handful of top 20 finishes including a 7th in the ladies 2000m Vicki decided to find out how she could take her commitment to the sport to the next level…Team Great Britain.
In December 2014 Vicki tried out for the GB team and made the first cut. The first part of the year Vicki had to up her game to make the crew, training six days a week – the final selection was the end of March 2015 in Cambridge.
After a weekend of time trials and assessments Vicki burst into tears when she was given the news - A seat in the Great Britain Premier Dragonboat team - absolutley thrilled and astounded.
So with under 13 weeks to go she is now preparing for the World Championships which take place in Welland, Canada, 19-23 August 2015.
A seat in the national team requires a huge commitment and unfortunately whilst Sport England recognise the sport they don't financially support it. With all the training camps in the UK and the Worlds in Canada its an expensive proposition for someone living in Hong Kong not to mention all the other associated costs of training, nutrition kit and equipment.
This really is a childhood dream come true and your support is hugely appreciated. 
Instagram vix_in_honkers
