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Team’s Debut Participation Receives Backing of Dubai Internet City
 
The Dubai Flying Dragons, the region’s leading dragon boat team, delivered an exceptional performance ranking in the top 10 among 400 teams at the recently concluded Sixth International Dragon Boat Festival (IDBF) Club Crew World Championships (CCWC) in Penang, Malaysia.
Sponsored exclusively by Dubai Internet City, one of the world’s largest ICT managed clusters and a member of TECOM Investments, the women’s crew ranked 7^th in the 2,000 metres and 10^th overall in the 500 metre races against teams from countries, including Japan, Hong Kong, The Philippines, and the US.
Malek Al Malek, Executive Director of Dubai Internet City said: “Dubai Internet City is delighted with the Dubai Flying Dragons’ display of outstanding dedication, determination and competitive spirit at the international regatta. We earnestly look forward to supporting similar initiatives as part of our endeavour towards nurturing sporting excellence in the region and providing our home-grown talent with world-class exposure.”
The mixed crew achieved an impressive 15^th overall position in the 500 metre race, following its third place victory in the Plate Final with a time of 02:07:27; a fraction of a second off from the Singapore team that came second.
The Club Crew World Championships (CCWC) have been held every two years since 1996. Attracting over 400 teams from more than 20 countries, including Australia, Canada, China, New Zealand and Russia where dragon boating has grown dramatically in popularity and competition, the CCWC aims to advance the team sport with the hope that dragon boating will soon be accorded Olympic status.
Jason MacKenzie, Coach for the Dubai Flying Dragons women’s crew, said: “Preliminary steps have already been taken towards making dragon boating an Olympic fixture. We are optimistic that the sport, which is building an ever growing fan base more around the world every day, will eventually be recognized and accepted as part of the ultimate international sporting event.”
Angelina Wong, a crew member in both the women and the mixed team of the Dubai Flying Dragons, said: “About 10 months ago, I went dragon boating at the Mina Seyahi Beach for recreation.
“I did not imagine that I would be competing at the World Championships against some of the very best teams. I would like to thank my coach, captain and the team for their encouragement as well as Dubai Internet City for their faith in us. The team’s recent results have definitely motivated us to aim higher and achieve more distinctions, reinforcing Dubai as a place of opportunities and success.”
The World Championship regatta this year saw some of the powerhouse women and mixed club crews from Canada who took most of the races by storm. The team won the four fastest times in the 2000 metres Premier Mixed race and one of the three fastest times for the Premier Women’s 2000 metres (defeated by firm favourites Jiujiang Windsor from China, which finished the course in 10:38:50 - over two minutes faster than the UAE team). The crews from China also proved to be among the strongest teams at the regatta cruising ahead by about a boat’s length in every race.

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