WE ROWED IN THE SAME BOAT, A SILVER MEDAL THAT'S WE GOT!
Or integrated Dragon Boating on the World-Day of University Sport
(Click here to watch the video recap of the event.)
We had quite an experience on the 20th of September during the University Sports Day. As tradition has it, the PTE Dragon Boat Regatta was held again this year - for the seventh time - but this year's field was a little different....
In addition to the usual faculty teams, an interesting group of people were preparing to take to the water. The "INTEGRATED". Based on the name, we could have been rowers from the maths or engineering faculty, but the wind was blowing from the other side (I would say that the wind was blowing from everywhere, and even the rain started to pour). It was the first time that disabled and able-bodied students got into a boat together and competed in a tournament.
Three of us were visually impaired - Evelin Almádi (MA in Social Work), Lilla Hadobás (MA in Psychology) and myself, - and we were joined by Csaba Magdali, the head of the PTE Support Service and Marta Fernandez-García, a recently arrived Spanish volunteer from the Service.
To be honest, we took to the shovel with the calm of the underdog - seeing the preparedness of the other teams and our own awe. But the first shock soon came. In the first race we left the "BTK Bastion" team behind us. As inexperienced paddlers in jeans and soaking wet, we found ourselves being called to another and another boarding of our enthusiastic little group...
... they called us after all! And not in the merry-go-round, but no... However things turned out, we felt like winners. The "Brazilian Machines", four-time university champions, set a tremendous pace, which unfortunately we couldn't keep up to the finish line, and in the end we ended up with a silver medal, a very shiny silver!
We would like to thank the PTE Sports Office and József Hári for providing us with the opportunity to participate in the event! Thank you to the Support Service for their help in getting us to the Sports Day during our time there! Finally, and most importantly, thank you to our fellow students, not only excellent athletes, but also great people, who rowed in the same boat with us!
- Máté Balogh (BA Sociology) -