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It’s not often that grey skies and the impending threat of rain overhangs a sporting event in the kingdom … but that’s exactly what happened at the Bahrain Spring Festival Dragon Boat Race.
Teams of 12 competed in the gruelling spectacle last weekend at the Bahrain Rowing & Canoe Centre, located underneath the shadows of the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay.
The regatta was held in celebration of Chinese New Year and it was a presentation of power and precision as the crews, some comprised solely of men and others mixed with strong-armed women, dragged their oars through the calm waters of the Gulf.
Dragon boats were traditionally made in the Pearl River Delta region of China’s southern Guangdong Province out of teak wood to various designs and sizes.
Racing has its roots in an ancient folk ritual of contending villagers, which has been held for more than 2,000 years throughout southern China. While competition has taken place annually for more than 20 centuries as part of religious ceremonies and folk customs, dragon boat racing has emerged in modern times as an international sport, beginning in Hong Kong in 1976.
For competition events, dragon boats are generally rigged with decorative Chinese dragon heads and tails. Alongside the rowers themselves, there is a steer leader at the helm and drummer, a hugely important member considered the ‘heartbeat’ of the boat.
It was good to see that the Bahraini boats had gone the whole nine yards with their designs. The dragon figureheads were decorated in bright yellows, greens and reds, while the superbly-carved boats had intricate oriental designs.
It was those commandeering the ships who showed the most diversity though; men and women, young and old, expats and locals. What everyone had in common though was power and determination. There was enough bicep on show to make Arnold Schwarzenegger blush!
As soon as the starter’s flag dropped, they were off. The pace built slowly at first, with the rhythm of the drums pounding in the ears of the generous crowd who had assembled to watch them off. From then on, field stretched out, every sinew was strained as bodies reached their limit to propel their team to victory.
In the end, after streaking away over the final metres, the Pinoy Warriors team leaned back in a mixture of exhaustion and celebration before pumping the air with their oars.
Afterwards, British ambassador Simon Martin and Filipino ambassador Alfonso Ver presented the trophy to the winning team. The team members greeted GulfWeekly with huge smiles on their faces.
“We’ve been training as a team for a long time, so it’s especially rewarding to win an event like this,” said one rower who didn’t want to be named because the victory was not down to one man. “Our team motto on our flag was ‘When you feel like quitting, think about why you started’ and we stuck to that, even when our arms felt dead.
“Dragon boat racing is one of our favourite events because it brings an element of fun too alongside the serious competition. We have the decorative boats, the drummers and the fans from many different cultures enjoy coming to cheer us on.
“Luckily the weather held out, as believe me, rowing in the driving rain and with choppy waters is not fun! We’ll be back next year to hopefully retain our title.”
