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The Republic Polytechnic Dragon Boat (RPDB) Interest Group (IG) proved their prowess at Polytechnic and ITE (POL-ITE) level once again. RPBD won POL-ITE titles for women, men, and mixed. Their reign at the recent concluded Singapore Dragon Boat Festival 2008 bore testimony that RP Dragon is ready to take on the Club Crew World Championships this August. With their hard work and determination, RP Dragon Boat can surpass the more established teams.
The Singapore Dragon Boat Festival (SBDF) 2008 was the most anticipated event in the Dragon Boat calendar. Held on 28 and 29 June, this year’s festival was at Bedok Reservoir. More than 3,000 paddlers gathered at the annual event were the longest, and
the toughest race was 1,000 metres long – this race is also known as the Prime Minister’s Challenge Trophy where university teams battle for the glory. The winner of this challenge was Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
Besides winning the POL-ITE titles, our women’s team took home bronze for Tertiary (Women). The women’s team was particularly strong despite having seven new girls who just joined the team two months ago. They were up against strong opponents from Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Singapore Polytechnic in the first event – POL-ITE finals for women, whose female teams are more established. Together with three senior paddlers, our RP Dragon Boat girls paddled extremely hard and shed off eight seconds to bring home the gold medal. It was a convincing win but it came as a surprise as the female team was very new.
Another notable mention was the men’s junior team. With less than two months of training, RP “B” team was able to come in 4th position for the 800 metres race during heats. It was a tight race between RP “B” team and Nanyang Polytechnic’s (NYP) “A” team. Our juniors were leading NYP for the first 500 metres only to lag behind their opponents in the last 300 metres! It was an amazing performance from the juniors. They have a promising start and in time, they will be the team to watch.
With many races before finals, RPDB were worn out with no extra paddlers to spare on the second day. The team had to endure back-to-back races amidst the glaring sun. They fought battles with strong teams such as Singapore Canoe Federation (SCF), National Junior College (NJC), National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), and Mountbatten Constituency Club.
Republic Polytechnic Dragon Boat Interest Group would also like to congratulate the following athletes on being selected as part of the Singapore National Dragon Boat Team Training Squad.
Benedict Joseph (Alumni)
Jackson Lim Kok Leng (Alumni)
Ng Tee Yang (Alumni)
Sadik Bin Nazir Hussein (Alumni)
Seah Shi Wei Gerome
Their dreams to be leaders and their passion for the sport have earned them a place in the National Squad. From their determination and hard work, we hope it will inspire the rest to work towards their goal and realise passion!
Good job, guys!
Republic Polytechnic Dragon Boat Interest Group is sponsored by NewUrbanMale.com (NUM) and Pacific Bookstores Private Limited.
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