Nteam at 9th World Championship Race 2009

Singapore Dragon Boat Team Roars Loudly in Prague, 9th World Championship 2009!

Heading into the cold air of Prague, the Singapore Dragon Boat Team arrived and stepped out of the airplane. After 9 months of meticulous and strenuous preparation for the 9th World Boat Racing Championship 2009, the team, energized and eager, was ready for intense international competition with equally passionate world-class paddlers.

Led by their coach Mr Goh Poh Soh and Captain Mr Bryan Kieu, the team comprised of 24 young men from the supportive tertiary and club teams. Team manager, Mr Ang Chin Leng was very relieved that the team had pulled through “high and low tides” of challenges to see the inaugural participation of Singapore Team on this world stage.

It was definitely a milestone in our local sporting history where the team had a stellar performance. We won high praises from officials and fellow competitors who admired our mettle and will.

For view of the amazing race results and race information, please refer to the official race web site address,

http://www.dragonboat2009.com/

The event was held in Prague from 26th to 30th August. The closing ceremony was held on the last day where all teams were treated to a delightful local cuisine and wine.

However, it was not all work and no play for this merry lot of rowers!
In the scenic and neo-Renaissance culture entrenched Prague, we had numerous jovial times during race and leisure times.
With special thanks to Damien , our resident photographer, our most memorable moments have been immortalized.
You want proof of the team’s thoughts and emotions; take a look at these pictures.

Soak in the beautiful town and people

Making Friends for us, Kyo!

Way of the Dragon!

With the end of this journal, the team will set its eyes on the next target, Asian Games in April 2010 and row their hearts out in preparation. Heads up, let’s go!

Written by Ah Teo

National Team on papers

Training for World Championship

This is the first time Singapore is participating for this prestigous bi-annual event which is going to be held in Prague, Czech Republic.

Going to Prague is definitely not going to be cheap and there is a very good chance that the team will get their ass whipped by the very strong countries going. Regardless of that, the team is willing to take the plunge and come up with the money themselves. But this is not the only hard part. Imagine training intensively since Feb in preparation for Macau International, Putrajaya International then with the June Race, fatigue is bound to come in. Plus the constraint on paddling at night as well as some of the team members have gone to NS, things are not looking good. However, the preserverance of the team cannot be undermined. Double trainings, training six days a week started right after June Race. Mentors also came back to help, paddlers stepped up on self training. Whatever the results, at least the team has tried their best.

Let's give them our support. 8 days to go.

For Singapore

We did it! in Putrajaya

As mentioned in the previous post, we were dying to go below 1min 55sec for our 500m. And we are proud to say,"WE DID IT!". After the disappointing race in Macau, SDBA decided to give us another chance and sent us to Putrajaya the following week. And yes, this time we really did it. In fact, we clocked 1min 54sec. :)

The sad thing though, is we only managed to do it for one set. But it was really an "all out" set and we came in champions for the first Putrajaya International Race, at least for all the 500m events. For the 2000m event, we came in 2nd, maybe its because we are paddling without our "best left" paddler who went back early to take his examz. ;)

The Elusive 1min 55sec

In Macau International 2007, its the first time that Singapore National Team managed to go under 2min and since then our aim was to reach another milestone:

the elusive 1min 55sec for 500m .

For a long time, the team has been trying darn hard to get achieve the target of 1min 55sec for a 500m race. In Macau this year, we were pretty confident we can do it. With all the training sessions(think we clocked at least 8 sessions a week) and with Coach Goh and Tech Advisor Fred's guidance, we feel the time has come. But alas, things do not always go the way we wanted. Maybe its the pressure, maybe its the nerves that got the better of us, but we only managed to achieve 3 timings of about 1min 58sec, still behind teams like Philippines, China and Macau. We came in first for B' finals which none of us were happy, which is a good sign as we know we can achieve better results.

Anyway, judging from the graph, at least, we know we are very consistent. :)

Recent T2 assessment

In order to pick out our representatives for the competition, the paddlers have go through various selection tests to make it to the first team. One of which would be the water time trial.

Water Time Trial
It is a test on the individual's ability to move an individual craft across a selected distance. The individual craft used for our time trials are the Touring Kayaks 2 seater or more commonly known as the T2. The T2s used for this test have been specially modified with an attached rudder for the paddler to use. The rudder is meant to steer the boat straight, as the paddler would only be paddling on his rowing side.

The recent water trial is meant for the upcoming World Championships 2009 at Prague(Czech Republic). the distanced selected for this trial is 2000m.

Gerome Seah was the fastest paddler for the trial and clocked a timing of 12mins 59secs, which is 8 secs faster then the 2nd fastest paddler Jin Wei.

For more information of the results, please click the link below.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=t3ofVUwvDm3Go8J8RKzK_Fg&output=html

Red Bull gives you wings!

Team Singapore Dragonboat supports Red Bull(Austria)!



Do you know?

Red Bull ® Energy Drink
- increases performance
- increases concentration and reaction speed
- improves vigilance
- improves the emotional status
- stimulates metabolism



The paddlers each take a can of Red Bull energy drink 20mins prior to each training session.

Red bull energy drink has helped our paddlers stay focus during trainings, both land and water, thus helping us deliver our finest performances whenever required for.

For more information,
please look up www.redbull.com