Sport: Dragon boating

SPORT

DRAGON BOATING

Dragon boating is a variation of rowing that originated in China. It’s now a worldwide team paddling sport, using either 10- or 20-person boats decorated with dragon heads and tails. The length of the races can be 200m, 500m, or 2km, and the normal crew number is 22, including 20 paddlers, one steerer and a drummer. It is still associated with the traditional Chinese Dragon Boat Festival or Tuen Ng Festival in Hong Kong.

Dragon boating at Dio has been going from strength to strength over the past few years. The season is a quick six weeks and runs from February to March for our Year 12 and 13 girls who want to compete in a sport that is social and a little bit different. The girls train three times a week – two sessions are on the water at Lake Pupuke and the third is at Greyman Fitness Solutions in Parnell where they work on fitness and practise their technique on dragon boatingspecific ergs.

At the end of March, the Auckland Dragon Boating Championships are held at Lake Pupuke. With about 15 schools competing, it’s a big day of racing with a huge atmosphere. This year our Dio girls placed second in the 200m race, third in the 500m and sixth over the 2km distance.

From their success at the regional competition, the team had another two weeks to train before they travelled to the NZDBA national championships at Lake Karapiro. The girls went into the competition with plenty of determination to do their best. Nationals was a step up from the regionals, with the team was up against adult teams. However, our girls pushed through, giving many of the adult teams a run for their money. Dio made the final of every race and achieved some amazing results: 3rd Junior A Women’s Standard Boat – 500m 2nd Junior A Women’s Standard Boat – 200m 2nd Junior A Women’s Standard Boat – 2km 1st Junior A Women’s Short Boat – 200m

The highlight of the competition was the win in the Junior A Women’s Short Boat race, as they beat Epsom Girls’ by milliseconds – the first Auckland team to do so in 15 years.

Congratulations to our 2019 dragon boating team for their amazing work this year. A huge thank you to our managers, Michelle Ogilvie and Rose Robson, as well as our passionate coach, Oli Garside, who made the season so great!