A Canadian Dragon Goes to Practice

Text by Anne Purcell

I went out to practice with the Canadian Dragons on Saturday.  This is not particularly news worthy as I’ve been a team member since not too long after I came to Singapore nearly three years ago - but what with business trips and social obligations, it had been a while.  I was a little worried that I’d gone soft(er) and that my muscles would have forgotten what they are supposed to do but after not quite two hours of:  paddle hard – rest and chat – paddle hard – rest and chat - I remembered why I love it.

I am not exactly what you’d imagine a keen, competitive dragon boat paddler to be.  I am … well, as a woman, I can be coy about my age so let’s just say that I’ve recently moved into a really nifty time of my life.  Physically, I’m relatively fit … but, again, let’s just say that I’m not well matched to the benches in the narrow back end of the boat.  But when I get into a boat with a bunch of other people of all levels of experience, I can hold my own.  It’s like riding a bike, once you develop a little technique, your body remembers.  It’s also like riding a bike in that you get to sit down the whole time – an excellent exercise mode which is only beat out by things that you can do lying down.

Saturday was like most practices; we warmed up, paddled and then toasted our strength and prowess with 100 Plus and beer around the cooler.  As I stood there feeling the good kind of tired and looking at my team mates, I thought about just what it is that I love most about my Singapore sport.  Not to trivialise the camaraderie, team diversity and amazing interval training, but if I had to choose only one thing that keeps me coming back to practice, I’d have to say “back fat”.  Paddling a dragon boat, you use muscles that you just don’t use in sports like cycling or running or even swimming.  When you do it right, paddling is all about your back and core with a little shoulder work thrown in for good measure.  In my first few months of paddling with the Canadians, the biggest revelation was my back.  It got shape and now I’m hooked.