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On Friday, 26 June 2009, Republic Polytechnic Dragon Boat (RPDB) had a big challenge to face – defending both POL-ITE Men’s and Women’s title. The Men’s team were on a two consecutive winning streak, and were en-route to a “3-peat”, while the Women’s were looking forward to a 2nd consecutive win. Most of the Dragon Boaters had to “battle” lessons, before going “war”, and it was also the beginning of a long, gruelling Dragon Boater’s weekend, with the Singapore Dragon Boat Festival right after POL-ITE, over the weekends.
Upon arrival at Marina Barrage, RPDB, in their new green jerseys, rushed for their warm-ups and stretching. As expected from the defending champions, the team separated into Men’s and Women’s to carry on with their respective warm-ups, calmly, despite being rushed. Both Men’s and Women’s team managed to find time to do visualisations for the race set, and they got themselves mentally ready.
First up was the Women’s team. Having only two 3rd year paddlers, who went for the previous POL-ITE, the remaining 2nd year paddlers had to look into using their experiences to win the race. Paddling down the course, it was clear that RPDB’s girls were in the lead as they pulled the others away from their sight. They eventually defeated all the other teams with a whopping 5 second differential, more than a boat’s length, from 2nd placed Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP); bringing back the POL-ITE trophy two consecutive times, in fashion.
The Men’s team were already out near the starting point, even before the Women’s race begun. Staying focused and concentrating only on themselves, they were able to block out all distractions and get themselves ready for the race. Immediately after the Women’s team went out, the Men’s team were called in to align their boat. As the horn sounded for the race to start, it was the beginning of the Men’s quest for a “3-peat”. Using everything they
have learnt from their rigorous training, they paddled their hearts out, literally to the medal. The composure and cooperation of the team brought them to a record breaking 3rd consecutive POL-ITE title, beating NP by 0.8seconds.
For the 2009 POL-ITE Games, the team had to depend on only one coach, as compared to previous years. Steve, the previous head coach, had moved on to coaching the National Women’s team. See Chin Tien, who was the assistant coach, took over early this year as the new head coach. The 2009 POL-ITE titles won by both Men’s and Women’s can be considered as his biggest achievement since taking over. The team is proud of, and would like to thank Chin Tien, who
coached over 50 paddlers in the senior team of both genders, for bringing them to the POL-ITE titles. They also seek to achieve further success, and will continue training cooperatively with Chin Tien.
RPDB did an excellent job by defending both Men’s and Women’s POL-ITE title. All the best to the team for the future competitions. Continue to aim beyond POL-ITE standard, and for the “powerhouses” like NTU. As former captain, Jason Loke, used to emphasise, “today we seek for continuous success and glory, because today’s success MIGHT not equate to tomorrow’s glory”.
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