Swinburne Dragons outpace strong competition

KUCHING: The Swinburne Dragons, after over a year of rigorous training, showcased their prowess at the Sarawak International Dragon Boat Regatta 2024.

Team Manager James Loi expressed relief at the team’s performance, particularly given the heightened competition this year.

“Some teams we’ve heard about for years but never raced against showed up this time, and that’s daunting,” he told Sarawak Tribune at Kuching Waterfront today (Oct 26).

Swinburne entered three crews: Mixed 12, Open 12, and Open 20, with the Mixed 12 team advancing to the semi-finals.

“The Mixed 12 category requires a balanced team of 10 paddlers, 1 drummer, and 1 steerer,” he said.

He commended his paddlers for their outstanding performance against strong teams, some of whom they’d faced last year.

“The team has really done well,” he added.

Loi said that the team has been training intensively since November last year.

“We started as soon as last year’s race ended, training two to three times a week,” he said.

Swinburne Dragons rejoice together. Loi (far right)