Dragon boat training at Docklands on a cold Sunday morning.
DARRIAN TRAYNOR
It’s war on the water when it comes to dragon-boat racing. There’s the sound of drummers, frightening-looking dragon heads and about 20 paddlers stabbing through the water to reach the finish line.
At the Docklands, a battle cry is brewing, with 36 Victorian paddlers preparing to take on the Chinese at the Chinese Dragon Boat competitions this month.
This is a more frightening sports scenario than taking on the Germans in the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, with the Chinese having the home-water advantage.
They also have the historical advantage; it is their sport – entrenched in Chinese culture for about 2000 years. International competitions with boats rigged with decorative dragon heads and tails have taken place annually for more than 100 years.
Leading the charge to Zhuhai, Zhanjiang, Zhaoqing and Guangzhou cities is Melbourne breast-cancer survivor Jill Hicks.
“The Victorian team is a composite of paddlers from many teams. We are training hard to co-ordinate techniques and racing strategy, as well as training to race over long distances to build stamina,” Hicks said.
“Paddlers returning from competition in China talk about the huge spectator crowds, the loud noise and the televised regattas, quite a contrast with the low level of interest and support here.”
Competitive dragon-boat racing is a technical team sport and involves synchronising paddle strokes to a drumbeat.
“Bringing fitness and strength into the boat is important, as are the technique and timing developed as a team on the water,” she said.
On every dragon boat’s bow sits a drummer. A dragon-boat drummer keeps the paddlers in sync. The drummer leads the paddlers throughout a race by using drumbeats to indicate the speed of strokes. The drummer’s role is both tactical and ceremonial.
There is also a sweep, who controls the dragon boat with a sweep oar at the rear. The oar is used for sweeping the stern sidewards.
And, most importantly, there are paddlers. If paddlers are not synchronised with each sitting opposite one another, there will be a massive reduction in speed. In competitions this can be confusing, with drums from other boats distracting the paddlers.
Rose Doery (left) and Jill Hicks of Melbourne Flames take a break from training at Docklands.
DARRIAN TRAYNOR
Hicks said she enjoys the interdependence of all 20 paddlers in the boat. “We rely heavily on each other to move the boat efficiently to travel at high speed (12-15 kilometres per hour).
“You can participate as a beginner with very little instruction, but it takes years to perfect technique.”
Hicks said she has been dragon boating for about six years and started after having eight months of treatment for breast cancer. She also started her own team, which competed for two years before it amalgamated with the Melbourne Flames Dragon Boat Club.
The club caters for paddlers of all ages and both genders, and members can compete in gender, age or mixed categories.
Dragon boat racing is popular. In April, more than 2000 dragon boaties travelled to Adelaide to compete in the annual national championships. There are 12 teams in Victoria.
“I got involved in Dragons Abreast as a way of recuperating but I quickly became addicted and wanted to take my involvement to a sporting level,” Hicks said.
At the peak of the summer regatta season, the club trains three times a week on the water and has frequent gym sessions.
The premier event is the Melbourne International Dragon Boat Festival, which has been held annually since 1985.
Clubs have the use of eight fibreglass boats housed at Docklands and about six older wooden boats at the rowing sheds on the Yarra. The boats are 14 metres long and weigh approximately 280 kilograms.
The 12 Victorian club teams, as well as a few corporate teams, mainly compete at Docklands (three regattas a summer season and state titles) as well as Albury, Falls Creek, Geelong and Mount Martha.
DRAGON-BOAT CLUBS
WHERE TO LEARN
Dragon Boats Victoria
Postal address:
PO Box 345, Mount Martha 3934
Phone: 0411 706 371
or 5988 4181
W: dragonboatsvictoria.com.au
President: K. C. Ong
Melbourne Flames
Postal address:
PO Box 521, Yarraville 3013
W: melbourneflames.com.au
E: enquiries@melbourneflames.com.au
President Rene Gielen
Cowboys
Where: Yarra River Compound
W: cowboysdragonboat.com
E: craigwaghorn@bigpond
Club captain: Craig Waghorn
Club administrator: Bev Grenda