Asia

Asia

Dragon boats make big splash across Australia

05 March 2013 00:51 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Often called the world's fastest growing water sport, Australians are also in on the dragon boat phenomenon, with about 3,000 paddlers competing in the popular Sydney Chinese New Year dragon boat races this year, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The sport has grown by about 70 percent in numbers in Australia over the past five years, Melanie Cantwell, Chief Operations Officer of Dragon Boats NSW, told Xinhua recently.

As the biggest dragon boat meet in the Southern Hemisphere, the Sydney Chinese New Year races are now reaching maximum capacity, Cantwell said, with teams from all over NSW traveling to Darling Harbour to compete, and almost 200,000 spectators looking on.

For Australians, the attraction of the sport is not just participating in a multicultural event; "it's very social and lots of people can come together, they can be competitive, men and women can compete together, and it's an opportunity for people of all ages to compete," said Cantwell.

"Lots of our corporates and our schools like it because it teaches team building, and that's very valuable, that people learn to work together as a team.

"I know there's lots of people here today who have been paddling for twenty or more years and just love it, because of the team work and friendships that they build. People make friends for life," she said.

Dragon Boats NSW, the state association for the sport, currently has more than 3,200 members alone, with 59 clubs scattered around the waterways of NSW. Each Australian state has its own dragon boat association, with the first formed in 1985 in Western Australia.

"The sport has grown very widely in Australia, and a lot of people enjoy it -- especially Australians. This is fantastic for the sport, and now we have paddlers from across Australia, and also across the Tasman from New Zealand," said Councillor Robert Kok, former Deputy Mayor of Sydney, at the Darling Harbour races.

"I think there are twenty to thirty teams here -- a lot of paddlers and a lot of teams, and all the traditional teams and some new teams coming as well," he said.

Over the two days of dragon boat events, not even bad weather could deter the crowds and competitors from cheering on their favorites. "We weren't really expecting quite a huge tourist crowd around this area -- even with the weather today, it's a bit wet, a bit rainy, a lot of people are here," said Kok.

"Annually it draws a big crowd who are interested in dragon boating and the spectacular racing," he said.

And even all the way in Sydney, far from its Chinese roots, participants take pride in upholding the ancient dragon boat traditions.

"At the start of the dragon boat races, the dotting of the eyes of each dragon boat brings it alive. We do all the traditional ceremonial awakening of the dragon boats -- we have this ceremony each year," said Kok.