BROMLEY’S Peter Li is celebrating a gold medal success as a member of the British senior mixed crew which triumphed in the 2,000m race at the 10th European dragon boat championships in Nottingham.

Li’s crew had the honour of kicking off the three-day competition, setting off first ahead of rivals from Poland, Russia, Germany, Italy, Hungary and Czech Republic in hot pursuit, each at 15 second intervals over a circular course.

Britain hadn’t been overtaken when they crossed the line and increased the gap over the Italian crew directly behind.

However, the times had to be calculated for all of the crews before the final results were revealed.

Li explains: “After what seemed like ages, the news rippled through the GB senior camp we had won by the smallest of margins, only 0.12 of a second ahead of Russia in second.

“There was uproar in the camp, as this is the first senior gold medal in a long time.”

Team GB also won the Nations Cup, awarded to the most successful country over the three days of racing, the first time they have done so in 12 years.

Li is a member of Thames Dragons and trains throughout the year.

For more information on the club, visit thamesdragons.com

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