The dream to compete at the world championships has come true.

Fast and Furious, a competitive women鈥檚 Dragon Boat team from the Fort 91原创 Canoe Club, will compete at the world championships in Hong Kong in August 2012.

The team accomplished this after placing second at the Canadian national Dragon boat championships in Welland, Ont.

The team is still a bit surprised by its instantaneous success.

鈥淚t was a dream, really,鈥� said team captain Sandy Ferguson.

鈥淲e were just going to go out and give it our absolute best shot.

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 really know what was ahead of us because we didn鈥檛 have that type of experience.鈥�

The uncertainty of what to expect stemmed from the fact the team only began practising together in January.

Ferguson said the team has only had 27 practices between when they formed and when they went off to Welland, Ont. for nationals last month. That works out to about once a week.

By comparison, other teams at the competitive level, train year-round, and some of the top teams 鈥� such as a team of former world champions from Pickering, Ont. 鈥� have their own gym and do dryland training a couple of times per week.

So the fact they qualified for worlds in their first crack brings pride to the squad, Ferguson said.

A big reason for the team鈥檚 success is coach Ben Lee, she added.

Lee was the one who decided to form the competitive team with an eye on competing at nationals and qualifying for worlds.

He put the call out to the members of the various Fort 91原创 Dragon boat teams who wanted to compete at a higher level.

Through attrition, the team was whittled down to 25 rowers, all ages 49 and up.

Many compete on more than one Dragon boat team with the Fort 91原创 club.

The group showed well in a couple of local regattas and qualifiers, but none had experienced anything like nationals.

鈥淲e did well and kept improving and just kept hoping we would peak at the right time,鈥� Ferguson said.

鈥淎nd our coach got us right where we needed to be at the right time.鈥�

The team set a new best for itself in all three distances, the 200m, 500m and 2 km events.

Going to nationals, the captain admitted the team was a little bit on edge because they knew they were up against a former world champion, as well as some other high-powered teams from back east.

鈥淲e were just told to do our best,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e were nervous and really didn鈥檛 know how we were going to do.

鈥淲e knew we had a decent team heading out there, but we just didn鈥檛 have the experience that the teams back east have.鈥�

Not having any expectations when nationals began, Ferguson said the squad just dug deep when it had to.

鈥淚 call these girls a team with a lot of heart,鈥� she said. 鈥淓verything is on the blade when the horn goes; they give everything they have.

鈥淲e just worked hard, consistently, and more importantly, we all believed in the plan that our coach laid out for us and stuck with it.

鈥淲e believed in him and believed in each other.鈥�