Perfect Ending to the Season

WORDS: POSIT LAOHAPHAN

he Club’s Royal X team had a perfect ending to the season at the Discovery Bay Dragon Boat Races. The long-awaited event was held at Tai Pak Beach, Discovery Bay. The race originally scheduled for 10 October was postponed to 24 October due to bad weather. While this was a disappointment and there were concerns that the race would be cancelled altogether, the captains and the coaches of the Royal X team did not allow this delay and disruption to distract the team. The goal was to end the season strong and the team used the extra time to train even harder and get better prepared.

The race had a slogan of “Reboot Yourself with Us” which was very much the sentiment of the day given Covid-19 restrictions caused almost all of the scheduled dragon boat races to be cancelled this year. The Discovery Bay event included typical Women’s, Men’s and Mixed categories as well as Under 23 and Community team categories. This allowed for broader participation in the races that was wonderful to see.

Our Royal X team was very well represented with nearly 60 Club paddlers participating on the day. This was very impressive considering that the change in dates caused conflicts for many key members of the team, including some that had already committed to run the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon that was being held on the same day.

The team arrived bright and early to a windy, cold and overcast beach that would ultimately turn into a beautiful day at Discovery Bay. The team was focused and ready to go for the last race of the season. We knew our competitors would be hungry for wins as well and we needed to bring it. The level of uncertainty and anxiety was notable, yet unnecessary.

It turned out to be a fantastic day of racing. Royal X team fielded four crews: a women’s team in the Sinopec Cup Ladies’ Race, a men’s team in the HKR Cup Open Race and two mixed teams in the COC Mixed Races. The path to the finals included a number of preliminary heats. Points were awarded based on the team’s finishing position for each heat. The crews that accumulated the most combined points across all heats in a given category were then able to advance to the finals. All of our crews performed well in the opening heats. Both the lady’s and men’s crews advanced to the cup finals while our Mixed Blue and Yellow teams advanced to the Cup and Plate finals respectively.

Facing tough competition from the Lantau Boat Club Pirates and the Filipino Dynamo, our women’s team maintained their dominance throughout the day with a first-place finish in the finals. Similarly, our men’s team were unstoppable. The team finished every race from the heats to the final in first place with faster times in each and every single race. The men’s team beat a very strong field with

CONTACTS

Rowing Manager rowingmanager@rhkyc.org.hk Coastal Rowing coastalrowing@rhkyc.org.hk Shatin Men’s Racing shatinrowingmen@rhkyc.org. hk Shatin Women’s Racing shatinrowingladies@rhkyc.org.hk

paddlers from the Hong Kong National team also competing. The strength and power of our men’s and women’s teams carried over into the mixed teams. The mixed category was the largest in terms of competing clubs on the day. There were twenty-one teams participating in the mixed races. Our Blue crew dominated the opening heats and rolled on to cross the finish line well ahead of all others in the mixed cup final. Though this result was later contested with much uncertainty, we remained by far the fastest and strongest crew on the day without question. The Club’s mixed Yellow crew was comprised of both seasoned and brand new paddlers. They performed admirably making it into the mixed plate final and finishing in fourth place overall. Please take a look at the firsthand account of this race from new paddler and prospective club member Anne Leuth in a separate story.

Most clubs are happy to have a single crew make a final and even more thrilled to get a medal. The Royal X always strive to be on the podium with Gold medals for every category. This is no easy feat and we all know how tough it is to dominate in this way. Thus, the results at Discovery Bay were a wonderful reward for all of the hard work that was put in this season. We are all very proud of the accomplishments this season and look forward to continuing to build upon these successes next year. Go Royal X!

First Race Experience by a ‘Newbie’

WORDS: ANNE LEUTH

I would like to share my experience and perspective being one of the new recruits this year. It has been quite a journey, mentally and physically. I cannot express enough gratitude for all the support, professional training and encouragement. Yesterday showed me what it means to get through a real dragon boat race day.

Our Mixed Yellow Team did not win but after the last race it certainly felt like we were winners as we came together as a team and with a great and patient captain in the boat understanding our challenges. It was a perfect experience of how you can grow and improve with technique, teamwork, and timing. Seeing the uncles and aunties passing us certainly taught me not to be intimidated by strong fit looking paddlers anymore as the best looking team isn’t always the fastest. A whole new perspective came to life.

The Women’s race was also very good experience. It is intimidating to paddle with such experienced, well-respected and strong paddlers knowing that losing is not an option. I welcomed the aggression and focus so much as it kept me fighting through the intensity and pain. I also understand now why 2 minutes on the erg is really important to suffer through from time to time. It finally clicked that this is what we were preparing for in our trainings. The preparation gets you mentally ready to keep your head in the game on race day! Thank you for all of you amazing people coaching, preparing trainings, steering, yelling, and spending a lot of your time to make this happen sharing your love for the sport. It gives new paddlers a really great experience. It is life changing. I appreciate you all very much and am so very blessed to have become part of this amazing paddle community.