Mississaugans among dragon boat crew going to Malaysia

There are at least six Mississaugans among the huge Canadian contingent that will compete next week in the Club Crew World Championship dragon boat races in Penang, Malaysia.
Four Mississaugans, Angus Shuttleworth, Simon Liu, Andre Mikelakis and Sandun Weerasinghe are among the 23 members of the Rip the Fondue that will compete in three events — 200 metres, 500 metres and 2,000 metres.
In addition, Karen Simpson will be competing in the Women’s Masters and Chris Edwards of the Mississauga Canoe Club will serve as coach of the Women’s Masters.
“I think it’s a pretty good accomplishment,” said Shuttleworth, who was scheduled to leave Friday (July 25). “Now, we want to make the grand final and win a medal.”
Shuttleworth, a graduate of Glenforest Secondary, and his teammates qualified last year for this year’s event, which begins July 31 and runs through to Aug. 3.
“When I started dragon boat racing, I never dreamed it would take me to the world stage,” said Shuttleworth. “This is the highest level I’ve ever achieved.”
In a tune-up for this year’s world championships, the crew of Rip the Fondue finished second over-all in the Canadian championships last weekend in Toronto.
“We’ve got a great bunch of guys who work hard,” said Jason Brisebois, coach and captain of the crew.
Canada has 43 teams entered in the event, the largest of any among the 22 countries. Singapore is next with 19 teams.
onlinenews@mississauga.net