I remember how excited yet worried Kat was when I suggested take up dragonboating, because she was worried about whether she could keep up physically. But I know that it was the perfect reason for us to get fitter, because we're both such competitive perfectionists, we would spend extra time getting fitter and stronger (and yes, leaner too). Although I'd done SOME form of dragonboating in the past, it was definitely not as competitive as what we're getting into, and so we felt like ducks out of water. It was definitely difficult at first (even now), but all we could do was to give our best. What made it even tougher for us is that we're newbies joining a team of physically strong and experienced rower, so many a times, we felt quite disheartened when we felt that we had let the team down. Fortunately, we both enjoyed the sport very much and so we kept encouraging each other, exchanging points of views, and that kept the passion for the sport burning. And of course, we were very lucky to have great team mates and a coach who's always encouraging us. Oh, and the age thing played on my minds a little at first, but seeing rowers who were older than us yet WAY fitter, spurred us on.
Despite being so new to the sport, Kat and I were given the chance to row in the Regatta. I guess it was a combination of luck (several key rowers were unable to participate) and that coach had wanted to give as many of us a chance to participate. It'd been ages since I was involved in team sports, and so the nervous energy was building up in the days before the race. It was also somewhat pensive time for me too, remembering how my first exposure to dragonboating was through my participation in the Inter Statutory Board games and the River Regatta's Public Service category about 10 years ago, representing my then employer, NTU. We got the captain of the of the university team, Stephen Loh, to coach us because he was such an obliging chap. The poor fella was probably feeling quite uncomfortable putting staff and lecturers to the whip, but he did manage to get the bunch of misfits competitive enough. He was always encouraging and yet maintaining the respect for the staff. Such as the wonderful person that Stephen was. I was delighted when he decided to be a teacher, as I know that his students would benefit from his personality. Coincidentally, Stephen's younger brother played on the same rugby team as I did. Sadly, in 2007, while on international duty in Cambodia, Stephen and 4 of his team mates perished under freakish conditions. I'm pretty sure that Stephen would be pleased if he knew that I'd decided to row again, so my race was in his memory.
My race was over in a bit more than a minute, while Kat's team was luckier, which managed to qualify for the semis, but failed to qualify for the finals on Sunday. So there it was, in a bit more than the blink of an eye, the race was over. I was disappointed that we didn't go any further in the competition because despite training hard for the last couple of months, the outcome was dictated largely by lane conditions. But the overall atmosphere was completely addictive: we wanted to experience it again! Bloodied and wiser, we're looking forward to next year's program. Dragonboating has played such a big part of our lives, with training on Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings, the December break is going to feel weird without the usual routine. It's going to be a chance for Kat and myself to work on the off-season training so that we'd be fitter and stronger. We're also going to miss the hard work, camaraderie, post training humour and food sessions (they can REALLY eat! I wonder how they eat so much and yet be so lean). We'll be looking forward to seeing you all again in January, Team Naga!
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| Our family at the Regatta (picture taken by David Chan) |
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