A picture of a dragon boat, taken from the book, "Dragon Boat: A Celebration", written by former National Coach Pat Barker.
Paddlefest in Saint Andrews will feature a new event this year.
Former National team coach, Pat Barker will be hosting an introductory clinic on dragon boating for Paddlefest, the annual music and recreational festival in Saint Andrews, after the town acquired its first dragon boat.
Barker says one of their board members picked the boat up in Montreal last week, and members of the Saint Andrews Paddling Club are excited to launch, and paddle it for the first time.
“There have been festivals locally, but we hope to have a festival next year. First we’re starting the club. We need more paddlers for the boat.”
That’s why, she says, they will begin with an introductory clinic on dragon boating during Paddlefest, in hopes of getting new people to join their club.
She says following Paddlefest, they are hoping to have enough people join the club to start an actual dragon boat team.
“We’re going to start with one team. See what the demographics are. If it’s a mixed team, a women’s team, or we may have enough to fill a couple of boats.”
The dragon boat is all the Paddling Club has at this time, as they also don’t have a boathouse yet, but Barker says that’s the great thing about the sport as it introduces people to so many other water activities.
Barker began paddling in 1986, but the sport itself is one of the oldest, going back over two thousand years, where it originated in China.
Photo taken from the book, “Dragon Boat: A Celebration”, written by former National Coach Pat Barker.
She says there are twenty paddlers in a standard boat, along with a drummer and a steersperson, but what makes it unique is it’s not necessarily the strongest team who wins the race, but the team with the best rhythm.
“I coached a team in Vancouver that won Kelowna, back in, I think 2004. And the next year they did a 200 metre sprint and they were beaten by a mixed team, where the average age on the team was 68.”
Photo taken from the book, “Dragon Boat: A Celebration”, written by former National Coach Pat Barker.
She says you need to be fit and strong to take part in dragon boating, but the sport is also popular with retirees who have the time to train properly.
To register for the Paddlefest Dragon Boat Introductory Clinic, go to paddlefestnb.ca.
The clinic will be held at 2pm Saturday, May 18th, from Katy’s Cove.
Paddlefest started Thursday and runs through Sunday, May 19th.
Barker adds if you miss the clinic on Saturday, you can still join the Saint Andrews Paddling Club, and no experience is necessary.
“It’s really fun. You’ll hear people that get into the sport and say it changed their lives.”
