PROVING that enthusiasm for dragon boat racing spans all ages and both sexes, a 13-year-old boy and a woman well into her 70s were among the 50 or so people who turned up to try it at Malpas Dam on Sunday.
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President of the newly-formed Armidale Dam Dragons club, Brian Barrett, said it was a common misapprehension that the activity was female-dominated.
“Pink Ladies and Dragons Abreast seem to pick up the publicity, but it’s very much a men’s sport as well as a women’s sport,” he said.
Originally from ancient China, dragon boat racing is now one of Australia’s fastest growing water sports.
The Armidale club is the 58th to form in NSW, and one of only a handful operating on an inland body of water. “Mostly it’s held on rivers,” Mr Barrett said, noting one of the benefits of using a large dam was that you never had to row against the tide.
Mr Barrett said the boats were very stable, “as long as everybody follows the rules”.
“There are certain procedures when you’re loading a dragon boat,” he said. “You line everybody up and they file down the boat one at a time to their seat. When they sit down, they put their oar out flat so it acts as an outrigger.”
The Armidale Dam Dragons will be on the water at Malpas Dam again this Saturday from 9am.
New members are welcome, with the only restriction being that paddlers must be more than 12 years old.
For more information, contact Donna Sly on 6776-0812.
