History

History of Dragon Boat Racing

Originating in China over 2000 years ago, a dragon boat is a very long and narrow, canoe-style boat powered by people using paddles, which is now used in the team paddling sport of dragon boat racing.

While competition has taken place annually for more than 20 centuries as part of folk ritual, it emerged in modern times as an international "sport" in Hong Kong in 1976. Like running, horse racing and marksmanship, the racing of dragon boats is among mankind's oldest organised competitions.

The modern sport of Dragon Boating consists of a long canoe (approx 12 metres) with twenty paddlers who sit ten long and two abreast, one drummer who sits at the front and keeps time, and a sweep, who stands at the back and steers.

For the boat to move smoothly through the water, all team members need to be paddling in unison and take their timing from the front two paddlers who are called ‘strokes’, as they set the stroke rate. International standard race distances are 2000m, 1000m 500m and 200m sprints. For racing events, dragon boats are always rigged with decorative Chinese dragon heads and tails and are required to carry a large drum aboard.

When competing at regattas, boats start from a standing position, the combination of strength and near-perfect timing is necessary to get your boat across the finish line first. Endurance is also an important element of dragon boat racing and this goes hand in hand with the crew pacing themselves so that they don’t fade halfway in a race and ensures they have enough reserves to power across the finish line as many races are fought out in the last few meters and placings often differ by split seconds. 

Dragon Boating is characteristically a social sport, and has the added benefits of working a whole range of muscles and develops both strength, fitness and endurance.

History of Mildura Dragon Boat Club

Our club began in 2010 when after months of meetings we received a wooden boat from Dragon Boat Victoria that we effectionatly named ' the Banana'.  It got us on the water and a small crew began to regularly paddle.  Over the years we fundraised and applied for grants. and we now own two fiberglass boats.  We now have a branch that paddles twice a week in Robinvale as well as our Mildura team who train three times a week. Membership has been slowly increasing and is now around 57.  We have nationally accredited coaches who keep us motivated and provide advice on fitness, technique and race strategy.

We attend local events to get more exposure for our club, run Come & Try days and maintain a presence on social media (plenty of opportunity for selfies).  We regularly attend Masters Games events in SA and regattas in Victoria each year and compete in Australian Masters Games bi-annually.

We have had many Dragon Boat paddlers visit our region and join our training sessions. We have been lucky to include paddlers from many clubs to our team when competing.  It is an amazing team sport and we have an AMAZING TEAM.