An excited cohort of local dragon boat members selected for the Australian team Auroras started paddling fast and hard this week at the 17th IDBF Dragon Boat World Championships.
Five members from the Beechworth Golden Serpents Dragon Boat Club joined others from around the nation to represent Australia at the championships being held in Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany.
Proud to be wearing green and gold representing their country, twins Ethan and Aaron Grosser with Dorian Ellis are competing in the Auroras under 18s crew while Cindy Ellis and Brendan Maher are competing in the Senior C crew.
The world championships kicked off on Monday and runs until this Sunday, 20 July.
The Auroras is made up of different aged group crews - U18, U24, Premiers, Senior A, Senior B and Senior C.
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Beechworth Dragon Boat Club president Julia Brinsdon-Farr said world championships are held every two years.
“Alternate years have an international club crews’ event which is for the best clubs from each country rather than the national teams of each country competing,” she said.
Maher said teams are racing over distances of 2km, 1km, 500m and 200m opens in both women’s and mixed.
“The journey to the championships commenced last October when we all attended a selection camp,” he said.
“Our training started on New Years Day continuing for the past six months at six days a week with a combination of gym, cardio and paddling.
“We had to self-monitor and report results weekly.
“Training also included travelling to Melbourne every weekend for the past two months.
“We also attended divisional training camps in Sydney and Queensland."
This is the juniors' first time at the world championships, the second time for Cindy and the third time for Brendan.
Ellis and Maher both competed as part of the Auroras crew in the world championships held in Thailand in 2023.
Brinsdon-Farr said the Beechworth Golden Serpents Dragon Boat Club was incredibly proud and excited to have five of members representing Australia and competing on the world stage.
“The standard required to make the Aurora squad is very high, and each of them has worked exceptionally hard to get there," she said.
“Their commitment, drive and enthusiasm have been a real inspiration to the rest of the club."
Brinsdon-Farr said the club is seeing benefits flow back into the local paddling community.
“They are bringing back valuable knowledge, skills, and insights from working with top-level coaches and training programs, which is lifting the standard across the club,” she said.
“It’s a fantastic achievement, and we’re all cheering them on.”
