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On April 19 and 20, 2008, Republic Polytechnic Dragon Boat (RPDB) team made their presence felt at the People’s Association (PA) Paddle Championships. They fought hard to win the Tertiary (Men) category beating teams from National Junior College (NJC), Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP), and Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP). Without much time to rest for the next event, the team displayed strong fighting spirit to come in second for the Open (Men) category.
This annual competition, held at Bedok Reservoir, saw a record-breaking number of events – 99 in total – with participating teams from all walks-of-life. President S.R. Nathan was the GOH.
RPDB sent their men’s team for this competition. On the first day, the team competed in just one heats event – Open (Men) category. Still, the event was no walkover. They competed against some of the strongest teams in the local Dragon Boat scene. Despite being disadvantaged, the team never quiver to pressure. They fought hard with unwavering determination to clinch the top spot with the fastest timing of 1 min 12.42 seconds.
On the second day, RPDB faced stiff competition yet again. They were up for another challenge – the blistering heat from the sun.
The first event was the Tertiary (Men) final that the team had to compete with other more established tertiary teams. There were NJC, whose team members have dominated many local Dragon Boat competitions, NP and NYP Dragon Boat whose crew are made up of the strongest paddlers. Nonetheless, our fearless members had established once again that they are the team to beat. The team emerged victorious and was awarded Gold for this event.
Following immediately after the Tertiary (Men) race, the team had to compete in the Open (Men) Final. Having spent their energy prior to this, the team had to push themselves even harder. NJC strategically sent a new batch of stronger paddlers, some of which are currently in the National Dragon Boat team, to compete in this event. It was a tough race and NJC led all the way to the finishing line. Nevertheless, the team did well to come in second and was awarded with silver medals.
In a separate competition held on April 12, 2008, RP Dragon Boat Interest Group (IG)
brought back 2 trophies from POL-ITE (Polytechnic and ITE) games.
Held at Bedok Reservoir, our team battled hard to win both men and women races. This is also a first for the POL-ITE Dragon Boat games that both events are won by the same institution.
This marks a new beginning for the young dragons. It also bears testimony that RP Dragons can surpass the more established teams with hard work and determination.
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