Looking Back On My Dragon Boating Days

Endurance.. Mental Strength.. Team Work.. The list goes on for any athlete in any given team sport. It's not a battle between team sports and individual sports now, but the sacrifices and will power to be the best athlete you can ever be.
Dragon boating is a sport that is all rounded. In terms of physical conditioning, it not only trains your strength, but also your staminer and endurance. The perfection of both human strength and staminer has never been so evident. In terms of mental, it somehow gives you the "never say die" attitude, and the thought that "impossible is nothing". It also gives you the team spirit which is the Liverpool slogan, "you'll never walk alone". Every man will want to perform his best for his team mate to share the glory at the end. Every man will ensure he is at his peak fitness and mental strength at the starting line. The adrenaline pumping for me at any given race site is just madness. The thought of just going out there to trash any team that's in your way has never been so purposeful. Basically its always a struggle between values. You respect your opponent, yet show him now mercy.
I started this sport way back in my polytechnic days. The trainings at the NYP ground was always warm up, followed by 10 rounds around the track. At times, there will also be circuit training, which is sprints, pull-ups and sit-ups. The pull-up station is basically my playground, as I usually just complete my 60 pull-ups in 2 sets straight. After the staminer and endurance build up, we will start on weights training. Still panting from the run, we start our weights training in pairs. From shoulder press to leg squats, we cover it all, practically working out every muscle group, yeah.. Even the buttock muscles, believe me. The worst station was the rowing machine. After being drained off your staminer, endurance and strength, its no joke pulling your way through the rowing machine for 2 sets of 2 minute all out row. This is where the mental comes in. I will never forget the rowing machine. The only station that makes my jaw feels like its going to fall apart anytime, my arms feel numb and my heart exploding from my chest. After just over an hour of non-stop weights training, and when you thought all is over, the coach will start on his 150 non-stop "hold it there" push-ups and 120 non-stop sit-ups. As you can see, its always the mental. There will be shouts of encouragement as we press on to the finish of the 3 hour training session. After the ordeal, the most therapeutic and relaxing part of training has finally come, the warm-down, which is 2 rounds around the track and stretching. This is then followed by a debrief. The 2004 NYP Guy's Team managed to clinch 2nd place behind NTU in the Inter-varsity-Polytechnic Games, beating other favorites like NUS and Nee Ann Poly. ITE, Temasak, and Singapore Poly were no where in sight.
Then came my National Service days, where I joined the SAFSA Dragon Boat Team, which practically trained almost everyday, and yes, even on public holidays. Mondays and Wednesdays were land training, where we usually do 5km runs and hit the gym. We will have 3km, 2.4km and 1.6km sprint running time trials now and then, and so if you happen to eat curry the night before, good luck to you. Then there will be the pull-up test, which I dominate always. Never failing to do 46 pull-ups in a minute. Tuesdays and Thursdays will be sea training where we did our rowing. Clocking mileage for the conditioning of our rowing muscles. This is where the rowing technique comes in for optimum effect, from our fitness training. After rowing a good 2 miles, we usually end off with a last charge which is a pick up in stroke rate, which also determine the fitter rowers. This we usually do in sets. Saturdays and Sundays will be a mixture of land and sea trainings. After rowing for a good 2 hours, we will proceed with our 3 km run. The end of every training always leaves us hungry. Even in the shower, we were already dreaming about what to eat. At one point, many of us felt that we didn't have time to recover fully from all the training, and were starting to feel worn out from the trainings and the heat from the sun. Many of the rowers also became ill from dehydration. Our determination always lead us to the finals of every race ever since I stepped into the team. The most memorable race I had with the SAFSA Team was the River Regatta, held at the Singapore River in December 2005. Every rower was at his peak fitness and I really enjoyed the thrills of beating teams like NTU which had half it's boat filled with national rowers. I had the pleasure of being the Pacer of the team in my last race with SAFSA. I'm glad I managed to coordinate my stroke rate with Jeremy, which requires like 100% focus on my part.
Then came May 2006 when the National Team called for a time trial. It was a 2.4km test with a pull-up test included in as well. Not forgetting the Individual Row Test, where every member had to row one full boat by himself, trying to clock the best possible time. It was a whole experience all together. I learnt how to row while standing and kneeling, which was rather bad for the knee cap and ligaments. The rowers in the team had fitness levels I've never seen in my NYP and SAFSA days. They were like bodybuilders who could run 2.4km in 8 minutes plus. That was during the time the team was training for the race in Macau.
I'm just happy that I sustain no injuries through out these years of Dragon Boating, and I look forward in continuing this sport after my studies in the UK.