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On the 21st and 22nd of November, apart from the usual tour boats, the Singapore River was filled with Dragon Boats for the 27th Singapore River Regatta. The competition is one with rich history and is considered one of the most important races on the Dragon Boat calendar, apart from the Singapore Dragon Boat Festival. Furthermore, the 300metre race course is something unique to the world.
Republic Polytechnic Dragon Boat team (RPDB) headed for the competition with tremendous pressure to hold on to their record breaking 4 Gold achievement from 2008. An army of 70 paddlers which included junior and senior men and women geared themselves up as they faced considerably one of the most competitive Dragon Boat scenes Singapore has ever had.
It was a fantastic Day 1 for RPDB as the main teams cleared through the Heats to qualify for the Semi-finals and Finals on Day 2.
Here are the results for Day 1:
Tertiary Men Heat – 1st (Best Timing)
advances to Finals
Tertiary Women Heat – 1st (Best Timing)
advances to Finals
National Championship Men Team ‘A’ Heat – 1st
advances to Semi-finals
National Championship Men Team ‘B’ Heat – 5th
out
National Championship Women Heat – 1st
advance to Semi-finals
National Championship Mixed Team ‘A’ Heat – 1st
advances to Semi-finals
National Championship Mixed Team ‘B’ Heat – DQ (2nd,
however, finished in wrong lane) out
Day 2 of the 27th Singapore River Regatta kicked off with the RPDB Men and Women teams going for their National Championship Semi-finals. The Men team probably had the toughest Semi-finals of the category. Despite giving their best, the Men team could not edge out the other teams and only managed to settle for third, which qualified them for the Plate Finals. The Women team, however, managed to pull past the other teams in the Semi-finals, getting 1st and a ticket to the National Championship Women Grand Finals. Lastly for the National Championship were the Mixed team, which also got 1st, along with the best timing of all Semi-finals,
and booking a spot for the Grand Finals.
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Next up were the Tertiary Finals for both Men and Women. Having the best timings, both teams were set in the middle of the course, in Lane 3 of their own Finals. On record, no team in Lane 3 of any event have managed to achieve a 1st. The Men and Women Tertiary teams from RPDB went down with strong minds and hearts aiming for a repeat of last year. However, they were unable to do so, losing only by split seconds, leaving them with only a 4th and 3rd respectively.
Leaving the setbacks from the Tertiary events, the Men gave up the opportunity to clinch 1st for the National Championship Men Plate Finals as they withdrew from the event to rest for a competitive Mixed Grand Finals. RPDB’s Mixed team, in Lane 3, could only clinch a Silver medal for the event, once again losing by split seconds.
Following that was the last event for RPDB in the competition, the National Championship Women Grand Finals. This was the final chance for the team to clinch a Gold medal. In Lane 1 were the women from RPDB, where they cruised to 1st placing, edging out all the other teams. It wasn’t easy, but the women showed the rest of the teams what they were made of.
Overall, RPDB did well, bringing home 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze from 5 categories. Although it wasn’t anything close as compared to what they had accomplished the year before, it was a memorable and emotional competition for most of the paddlers. The Singapore River Regatta was the final race for the 3rd year students as paddlers of RPDB. The feelings each paddler had from the day they started training for the competition to the day it ended will never be able to be put into words. In the end, it was a matter of paddling for the team instead of paddling for one’s self.
Singapore River Regatta 2009 has made RPDB realise that when the team comes together as one, nothing will be able to break them. As the Dragon Boat season ends and the team goes for a break, it promises to come back even stronger than before. The graduating students wish the team all the best and would also like to thank the team for an excellent journey.
The team would also like to thank Coach See Chin Tien for all the time and effort spent on RPDB to move the team forward and to greater heights. It is never easy handling 70 paddlers, but he has done so. RPDB promises to cooperate fully with the Coach, promising never to give up and to strive for nothing but the best for the team. Also, credits must be given to Shaun Ho who had taken time off from his work to assist the team with his knowledge.
RPDB, continue to strive on for greater glory! Remember, winning isn’t
everything, wanting to win is.
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