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With more than 159 teams from 22 countries participating in the bi-annual Club Crew World Championships (CCWC), the 6th International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) was held from July 31 to Aug 3, 2008, at Teluk Bahang Dam, Penang. Singapore has 19 teams from 11 organisations competing in various categories from premier to junior races. Republic Polytechnic Dragon Boat (RPDB) participated in the Premier Open categories. It was notable that Singapore teams wore life jackets during races.
Teams from the left: Mountbatten DBT (Blue), NTU (Red), SMU (White), and RP (White with green stripes)
The opening day was a spectacular display of endurance as teams competed in the 2,000m race. Teams from Singapore - Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore Paddles Club (SPC), Singapore Management University (SMU), Mountbatten Dragon Boat Team (DBT), and Republic Polytechnic (RP) – competed in the Premier Open 2,000m race. Although RPDB came in last in this race, the team made tremendous effort after a strenuous 10-hour bus journey from Singapore. With fourteen teams from various countries competing in this event, RPDB team mates wasted no time from unpacking their luggage and reached the completion site earlier because events were pushed forward. The team was caught unprepared and there was not enough time for proper warm-ups and briefing on race guidelines.
Although result for the first event was unfavourable, this experience led the team to learn from their mistakes and performed better for the next few days.
RPDB, in the first boat, competed in the Premier Opens 500m Plate Final
On the second and third day, the competition focused on 200m races. A familiar distance for the team but it was more challenging because its competitors. RPBD had the honour to face a huge challenge during the heats when they competed in the same event as the eventual champions of the event, Moravians from Czech Republic. One important aspect was that physical disadvantage was evident when comparing Asian and European competitors. But the team learnt that faster stroke rate was crucial to keep up with the European counterparts. RPDB gave their all to arrive fourth in the Tail Finals for this category. Two teams from Singapore did well too –Mountbatten DBT came in second for Plate Final and NTU was last in the Minor Final. The good standing by Mountbatten DBT was no surprise as the team is made up of mostly national dragon boaters.
The team photo was taken on the last day at Teluk Bahang Dam, Penang.
On the last day of competition, the teams competed in 500m races. RPDB once again faced stronger challengers during in the heat races. After reviewing their opponents’ strengths and weaknesses, RPDB put up a better performance and made it to the Plate Finals. The team’s positive attitude enables them to fight other teams and improved its personal timing for each race. Mountbatten did Singapore proud by receiving a bronze medal for the Plate Finals.
Despite not winning any medal in this competition, the CCWC was an eye-opener for RPDB to learn from other teams and their standing in the world – the best timing they had in the 500m race was placed fourteenth in the world. It was indeed a commendable result. They had gained invaluable experience and lessons that the team will share with the rest of its team mates.
Well done, RP Dragons!
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