Dragon Boat Racing

                                                                A Dragon Boat with crew

I was invited by Kingston Rotary Club to attend its annual Dragon Boat Challenge on the Thames on Sunday 20^th July. The DG accompanied me, and after struggling with traffic through Hampton and Hampton Court, we arrived at Canbury Gardens, which is a little downstream from Kingston Bridge, exactly at the allotted time. The only problem was car parking. Due to some oversight a space had not been reserved for the Consort’s car, so I had to drop off the DG then drive a mile away to find a parking space, then walk back in hot sunshine. This would not normally bother me, but I wasn’t wearing my usual hot weather outfit of shorts, T-shirt and sandals. In my position as Consort to the DG, I think the public would expect me to make a bit more of an effort to look smart, so there I was in long trousers, socks and shoes wearing a thick shirt, trudging down Richmond Road in 27 ̊ temperatures.

                                                                                              The Rotary tent

When I finally got back to Canbury Gardens, I was blown away by the sheer scale of this event. Never having been to this event before, I had expected something fairly low key and amateurish. Boy, was I wrong. There was a huge funfair under way, plus probably 40 or more stalls selling things or promoting charities, and an ‘athletes village’ with about 60 gazebos erected for the use of the teams. There were literally thousands of people there, enjoying the sunshine and watching the races. I located the Rotary tent, where the DG was already chatting to Kingston Rotary President Lynda Rowland, and also Paul Hickson and Keith Waller, himself a Past District Governor.

                                                                                       The very busy fairground

The Rotary tent was right at the finishing line, so commanded a fine view of the races, and I chatted to many members of the Rotary Club, and also a number of volunteers. I was most impressed with their ability to recruit volunteers to help out on the day. Although Kingston Rotary club is not small (it has 49 members) an event of this size needs a lot of volunteers for stewarding, erection of tents, registering teams, cleaning the site etc, and they have very successfully collected together a group of ‘Friends of Rotary’ who will turn out to support their various events, like the annual Firework party and of course the Dragon Boat challenge.

             The DG chats to Kingston Rotarians, including Lynda Rowland on right. Note chequered flag in background

I found a kindred spirit with one of the non-rotarian volunteers, who used to hang out in Shepperton in the 1970s and we reminisced about the Kings Head (where I was once a barman), the long-gone Chertsey Lock club, the Rose & Crown and the various famous people we met there ( I once served Tom Jones in the Cabin bar at the Kings Head - he drank brandy and babycham). My new friend (whose name I can’t remember) claimed to have actually bumped into Tom Jones in another Shepperton pub accidentally on purpose.

                                                                                    Racing to the finishing line

Whilst we were chatting, and walking around the site, the races continued. Each Dragon Boat has a crew of 16, plus someone at the front who beats out a steady rhythm on a drum, and a man who steers at the back, and the cost to enter the competition is £275 per boat. On top of this, each team has to commit to collect a minimum of £1,000 towards a Charity of their choice. Given these requirements, you would be forgiven for thinking that it would be difficult to get any entries at all for the competition, but in fact there were 56 entries. So it was a massive event, it is in fact the largest Dragon Boat event in the UK., having grown from its beginning 14 years ago, when there were just 17 teams. What a feather in the cap of Kingston Rotary club.

                                                                                         Official Scoreboard

I liked the format of the competition. It was not a knockout competition, whereby a team can be eliminated after just one race. Instead every team got to race three times, and the 8 teams with the fastest aggregate times progressed to the final. Prizes were awarded to the fastest men’s team, fastest ladies team, fastest mixed team (6 women or more in the team), fastest youth team and best fancy dress.

                                                The DG meets Pauline Woods (left), founder of Born Too Soon charity.........

                                                                                       ......... And a Viking

As the racing continued, the dignitaries (myself, Lynda Rowland, The mayor of Kingston Ken Smith, Mayoress Madeleine Smith, Deputy Mayor Cathy Roberts, and of course the DG) went on a tour of the athletes area, among the gazebos providing shelter, which are all owned and erected by the Rotary Club. Ken Smith is clearly a man who is thoroughly enjoying his year as mayor. He seemed to know so many people as he walked around chatting to everyone he met, people were thrusting babies into his arms for photo opportunities, and delaying our progress significantly. I didn’t meet anyone I knew already, but nevertheless met some great people, not least of whom was a wonderful lady called Pauline Woods, who founded a charity called Born Too Soon to support families of premature babies, and her charity is a major benefactor of this event.

                                                                                     The party of dignitaries

We got back to the Rotary tent just in time for the Final, and what a thrilling race it was. All 8 boats were abreast as they approached the finishing line, and it was almost impossible to work out who had won. Fortunately, the organisers used digital technology to monitor photo-finishes, and a winner was found. Only 2 seconds separated first and last place, that’s how close it was. The 5,000 onlookers made a tremendous noise as the boats crossed the line.

                                                                                      A thrilling finish to the Final

Immediately after the finish, we raced over to the bandstand to be ready for the prizegiving, a duty that the DG was to share with the Mayor. What enthusiasm and good sportsmanship there was in evidence. The DG presented awards to the best fancy dress (Healthcare Vikings) and also the Ladies’ winners (Canbury Arms ladies). 

                                                                                   With winning ladies team

                                                                 With all that remained of the winning mixed crew

                                                                             The winning mens team with their families (Spot the DG)

Just as the final award was handed out, the heavens opened, which sent people on their way home, including us. It was a super afternoon out, and well done Kingston Rotary Club