Alappuzha: The Alleppey Boat Club, which included a 10-member team from Dubai, won the women's boat race in the 54th Nehru Trophy Boat Race held at Kerala's Punnamada lake on Saturday.
"This is the first time that foreign women are taking part in the race. They were part of another team of 25 women from Alappuzha and formed the Alleppey Boat Club team," said K.S. Vikraman of Jayshree Travels, which brought the 10-member team from Dubai.
"There were three women's teams in the 750-metre-long race and it was a keenly contested race with the multi-national women's team finishing a mere 10 seconds ahead of the next team. It was not an easy race by any means," Vikraman told IANS.
Julie Amer, a British national and founder of adventure club Mountain High, led the team from Dubai. Amer was in Alappuzha in June for discussions with the district collector who gave the clearance for their participation.
The other members included German Britta Misch, Britain-born Chinese Wai Yin Chang, Kiwi national Sharon Codyre, Jordanian Dana Anab, Melissa Gorung, Lou Harris and Lea Radcliffe from Britain, Scottish Karen Gunning and Robyn Parker from South Africa.
"They are yet to come out of the lake because of the other races going on. I can sense their feeling of pride and we are also delighted that their first effort here was successful.
For the Dubai team, this is their first win. Last year, they took part in a boat race in Malaysia where they had finished second.
The team left for Dubai from Thiruvananthapuram on yesterday night.
