The Siargao Dragons dominated four out of seven events and claimed the overall championship in the recently concluded 2nd International Dragon Boat Festival at the Baywalk area in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.
The Surigao del Norte paddlers showed excellent teamwork, strength, and timing in sweeping the first three races in the 10-man standard boat — women’s 500-meter, men’s 500-meter, and mixed 500-meter – in the opening day witnessed by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Board members headed by Chairman Richard Bachmann.
The festival was simultaneously held with the PSC Indigenous Games which Bachmann and company also attended before an exploratory meeting with Puerto Princesa Mayor Lucilo Bayron and representatives of the Provincial Government of Gov. Dennis Socrates.
Leading right from the start, the Siargao women’s paddlers maintained their distance from rivals and finished the 500-meter distance in two minutes and 28.41 seconds. Dragon Pilipinas and Fire Dragons checked in at 2:29.24 and 2:34.46, respectively.
In the men’s 500-meter, Siargao also overcame their rivals’ last-minute surge en route to victory with a time of 2:08.28, beating Mr. Canoe (2:09.12) and Philippine Titan (2:09.57). The team’s mixed squad joined the winning run clocking 2:08.12 against Alliance of Masters (2:08.61) and Philippine Titan (2:09.33).
At the culmination of the festival, the Siargao Dragon also won the mixed 200-meter with a time of 53.58 seconds over Alliance of Masters (54.35) and Hong Kong China Canoe (55.35).
“Siargao is not only a force to reckon with in surfing but also in dragon boat. Against some of the strongest teams in Asia, masasabi nating hindi lang Siargao but all the local teams showed strength and determination to dominate the race. Malaking bagay ito para sa ating bansa at sobrang saya ng crowd talagang dinumog itong tournament natin,” said Philippine Canoe-Kayak Dragonboat Federation (PCKDF) president Len Escollante.
‘Nagpapasalamat kami sa ating host sa pangunguna ni Mayor Lucilo Bayron at siyempre sa suporta ng buong PSC Board, sa pangunguna ni Chairman Richard Bachmann. Yung mga participants natin from China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and Taiwan masaya sila,” she added.
INTERNATIONAL COLORS
Other winners in the two-day event are Mr. Canoe in the men’s 200-meter (49.45) edging Titan (53.81) and Dragon Pilipinas (54.93), while Alliance of Masters claimed the women’s 200-m gold clocking 1:03.95 and Sugbu Mighty Dragons won the masters 200-m in timed of 1:01.39.
More importantly, the tournament also served as local paddlers like the Philippine Blue Phoenix Dragonboat Club, Sugbu Mighty Dragons, and Riptide Dragonboat Team got a taste of the international brand of racing against teams from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and India.
Riptide participated in the 200m and 500m Women’s, Men’s and Mixed Standard Boats. Its men’s crew qualified to the Semi-finals in both the 500m and the 200m races while its women’s crew put up a good fight too.
The highlight came when its mixed crew reached the finals of the Mixed Standard 500m category and raced against strong contenders Siargao Dragons, Philippine Titans and the Alliance of Masters. In the end, Riptide settled for a 3rd Runner-up finish.
“We thank the organizers, the City Information Department of Puerto Princesa and the Philippine Canoe Kayak Dragonboat Federation – PCKDF, for a safe, fun and successful event. The festival does not only promote the sport of dragon boat but also fosters the spirit of sportsmanship. We look forward to the next dragon boat festival,” the team posted on its official page.