Dragon boat | Youth association eclipses rivals in women’s races

This year’s local section of the Macao International Dragon Boat Races has come to an end after two days of competitive matches at the Nam Van Lake Nautical Centre over the weekend. A total of 74 matches were staged, presenting six champions.

The Saturday matches were held without hitch thanks to an improved weather condition from the stormy previous week.

In the 200-meter Small Dragon Boat Final, the Fire Service Team led the race from the start and finished with a time of 48.598 seconds. The same team won the 200-meter Public Service Race Final with a 2-second lead over second place.

In the Women’s Category, the Association of Macao Youth Development started a bit slow, but recovered the difference to edge into the lead by a 0.4-second time difference.

Finally, the University of Macau A Team championed the 200-meter Open Category Small Dragon Boat Race.

The Sunday matches, however, had “some bumps in the course,” as the on-site commentator put it. The weather authority issued a thunderstorm warning around 2 p.m., forcing the organizer to suspend all matches until 4:40 p.m., when the warning was recalled.

Races resumed with the Women’s Standard Dragon Boat 500-meter Final. The Association of Macao Youth Development once again came in first with a time of 2:15.764, almost three seconds faster than the first runner up, MGM.

Ending the day was the 500-meter Open Category Standard Dragon Boat Final, in which just three seconds split the first five places. The University of Macau team missed out on a podium finished by just one-fifth of a second, while SJM Golden Jubilee was crowned winner.

A coach of the University’s team told the Times that they felt happy being in the final. Achieving fourth place in a match with traditional powerhouses such as the Fire Service and Monte Carlo, was satisfactory.

The matches will resume on Friday, June 7 (Tuen Ng Festival), at the same location. The Tuen Ng edition of the races will feature international teams from outside Macau. The standard will likely be  higher.

The list of competing teams has yet been confirmed by the organizing body, however it will include the Hong Kong SAR team, the Singapore National Team, and a team from San Francisco. Staff reporter