SP DRAGONBOAT: POWER ROWERS - Singapore Polytechnic

PowerRowersNEWSFLASH!SP Dragonboat (Men)clinched the championshipin the Tertiary (Men),Open (Men) and thePremier (Mixed Team) atthe SAVA Games2012.The best Dragonboat Team amongthe polytechnics two years in a rowand champion in Hong Kong too!Row, row, row your boat.Slowly but steadily, these boys graduate to almightydragonboaters that are now the best among thepolytechnics and ITEs. This year, they even poweredthemselves to victory at an international meet.speaks with the SP Dragonboat boys and girls tofind out what motivates them to perform.Every Sunday morning, a team of tannedSP hunks could be spotted flexing theirarm muscles at Kallang Basin. After somewarming up exercises, they would climbinto a boat and row up and down the waterstowards Marina Barrage and back.This is the Singapore Polytechnic (Dragonboat(SPDB) team in action. Under the hotsun, the training routine could be a mentaland physical torture. However, with theteam’s motto, One Stroke One Heart, not asingle complaint is uttered. They are doingit as one united body.Besides the water training on Sundays,they are put through weekly land trainingthat comprises endurance exerciseslike running, weight lifting and chin-ups.When a competition draws near, bothwater and land training become almost adaily routine.Hard work and perseverance during thesegruelling training sessions have paid offhandsomely for them. Besides being thereigning champion two years in a row atthe POL-ITE Games, an annual competitionfor the polytechnics and ITE, they are alsocrowned a regional champion. Not too longago, the boys rowed in first at the 8th ClubCrew World Championships held in HongKong for the 200m event. They competedin the 18-23 Racing Class open division,against formidable teams who are olderand more experienced.Team captain Daryl Ng, from theDiploma in Engineering with Business(DEB) and a former student of TemasekSecondary, credits success to the collectivesacrifices each member has made.“Dragonboat depends very much onteam spirit. If all of us can’t agree on acommon goal, there is no way that wecould achieve success. We have conditionedourselves to be very focussed onour goals,” says the 19-year-old.Vice-captain Ling Hsih Hwa, 20, from theDiploma in Electrical and ElectronicEngineering (DEEE) who joined SP fromCommonwealth Secondary School, adds:“Even outside of training, we wouldhang out together to eat, study and play.We might have missed out on the otherfun things that others do but there’sno regret. We can indulge in what wemissed out after we graduate from SP.It’s only three years, so why not makethe best out of it?”Both Daryl and Hsih Hwa joined SPDBwhen they were in their first year.Hsih Hwa, who has put on poundsof muscles ever since he became adragonboater, joined the sport becausehe was influenced by his brother whowas a dragonboater.For Daryl, he was almost a reluctantmember. He leaned more towards trackand field, as he was a sprinter when insecondary school. He was persuaded intothe sport by course mate Dominic Tan,who joined SPDB first. He had heard thatthe training was tough and both wanted tosee if they were fit enough to pull through.Soon, he was hooked into it and evendisplayed leadership ability that saw himrise to the rank of captain in his third year.Dominic became the team’s treasurer.Both Daryl and Hsih Hwa plan to studyeither business or engineering after theirnational service. With just one moresemester to go before they graduate,and two key competitions lined up, they,together with the rest of the graduatingsenior team members, are all geared up todo their best and create for themselves alegacy in SP.Training can go up to six times a weekif they are preparing for a competition.Otherwise, the regular routine is three sessionsof land and one session of sea trainingevery week. Land training is dividedinto strength and endurance sessions.Endurance consists of running up to 3km,20 minutes of pull-ups and weightliftingin five stations. Strength training is similarexcept that the focus turns to building up,well, strength in core muscle areas. OnWednesdays and weekends, they are atKallang Basin for sea training, usually forabout two hours including warm ups.When a competition is round the corner,training takes place daily except on Fridayfor about two months. It starts in themorning for an hour from 6.30am andresumes in the evening for another hour.Daryl admits that the toughest part aboutdragonboating is keeping the commitmentto training frequency. “To be present forevery single session is already not an easyfeat for normal people. Therefore, we conditionedourselves to be committed andsacrifice our social lives. We try not tokick people out and will try very hard tohelp everyone up to level.” No one understandsthis better than Daryl because, ashe lets on, he was quite behind in trainingduring his first year: “Inthe end, I couldn’t bearto leave them because Iwill think about the training,I think of the team.”The members that go forcompetition are seniorsfrom the same year. Theyhave been together sincefirst year and have built upa solid team spirit. Theyconsider the POL-ITEGames as more pressurisingbecause it is “therace” in dragonboat calendar,even though the HongKong tournament is morecompetitive. The next importantrace for this yearis the SAVA Games takingplace this month.SP Dragonboat captain Daryl Ng(right) and Vice-captain Ling Hsih Hwa.If you think the punishing schedule forSPDB guys will affect their studies, thinkagain. Daryl is proud to announce thatmost of the members have consistentlygood GPA scores. “It all goes back to trainingagain. We train and study in a very disciplinedmanner. We don’t procrastinate,”reveals Daryl who, like many of the seniormembers, plans to advance his studies inthe universities after his national service.Baring no distractions, they are keen tocontinue paddling for the university theyare in. “This means we might be competitorsin the future,” laughs Daryl.For now, they are savouring every momentof camaraderie soaked in their blood.The Medals★ 1st in 800m (Men) at POL-ITEGames 2011 & 2012.★ 1st in 800m (Mixed) at POL-ITEGames 2012.★ 2nd in 800m (Women) in POL-ITEGames 2012.★ 1st in Under 23 200m (Men) in8th Club Crew WorldWorld Championship 2012★ 2nd in Under 23 500m and 2,000m (Men)in 8th Club Crew World Championship 2012.05