It is with great regret that we have to announce the sad loss of Oliver Jesty Cock, the founding President of our Association. Oliver passed away on the 16th October. His funeral and a celebration of his life took place on 31st October at St Pauls church,Woldingham.

'Oliver Jesty Cock was our first President and was a great supporter of Dragon Boating from the early 1980s. He donated the Nations Cup to the IDBF for the 1st World Championships in 1995 and travelled to Yue Yang, China, when he was 83, to present it personally.

Most recently he donated the Golden Dragon Trophy for the Best Premier Crew overall at the BDA National Championships. It is only in the last few years that he was unable to join us at the National Championships and present the prizes but he made a special journey last year, at 94 years young, to present the Golden Dragon Trophy for the first time to Batchworth Dragons. He will be missed but never forgotten as his trophies will live on at both National and International level as a token of his life and his support of Dragon Boating world wide.'

Oliver's unique outlook on sport will be sadly missed by all those who were lucky enough to hear his views.

The BDA have launched an electronic version of Dragonline, the news magazine for BDA members with news, tips and dates of future events for your racing calendar. If you didn't receive the first edition in October maybe we haven't got your current email address or possibly your filters need to be adjusted to accept this.

The November issue is imminent so make sure you check your email filters and spam settings so that you don't miss out. If you want to make sure you receive it to your preferred address click the link below and send an  email from your regular email account with your full name and BDA membership number if you are a current member.

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