Dragon boat training on Lake Burley Griffin on a crisp winter day. Photo: Supplied.
In Asia, dragon boating is as big as Australia’s major football codes, with paddlers paid as full-time athletes earning big money through prizes and sponsorships.
Some Asian countries also use dragon boating as fitness training for their military.
In Australia, dragon boating remains a community-level sport, but with a commitment requirement on par with professional sports.
With this comparison in mind, 45 Canberra-based paddlers named in the Australian team for the upcoming World Dragon Boat Racing Championships in Thailand have been training hard to give themselves a chance at success.
The athletes will be heading to Pattaya to compete from 7-13 August.
So, how hard is the training? Canberra’s Tom Wick, coach of the Australian under-24 team, explains: “It differs depending on age division and what each athlete’s strengths and weaknesses are, but on average training consists of three to four sessions in a dragon boat each week, four to five sessions in the gym, and some cardio to maintain fitness, alongside recovery such as stretching, massage, ice baths etcetera, which is more unique to the individual.
“It’s also worth mentioning that for the vast majority of the athletes, the lead-up to competition is essentially just a continuation of their seven-month regular season. We had our National Championships in April, so it has been pretty non-stop!”
It would also appear as though dragon boating in Canberra is a sport for all ages.
Training differs depending on age group, but the under-24 ACT team (pictured) have three to four sessions in the dragon boat per week. Photo: Supplied.
There are seven age groups at the world championships. The youngest Canberra paddler in the Australian team is 12 years of age, while the oldest is over 70.
Canberra’s representation in the 300-strong Australian team is high when our small overall population is considered.
In fact, Canberra, with 500 paddlers in 10 clubs, has the highest proportion of paddlers per head of population in Australia. This is a significant achievement in itself.
“Paddling can be done year-round in Australia but anyone who’s been in Canberra in winter will know that it takes a lot of willpower to get out of bed in the morning, let alone head out onto the lake in sub-zero temperatures and inevitably get a splash of the ice-cold water,” Tom said.
Heading out for an evening dragon boat training session on the lake. Photo: Supplied.
There is also the challenge of making certain the paddlers are good enough to be competitive on the world stage.
To this end, plenty of community fundraising has taken place in Canberra to ensure there is support on par with what you would expect in high-performance programs. For this campaign, a strength and conditioning coach has been engaged to develop off-water programs for the paddlers.
And Tom says the focus for the Australian paddlers is to test themselves: “Most of the people who try out for the team do it to challenge themselves and experience what it’s like to race the best of the best.”
If previous results are anything to go by, the Australian junior and senior teams have been regularly on the podium.
In 2019 there were a few gold medals. And in the open age division just making the final is a huge accomplishment against the professional teams.
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