No medals this time

Cobra Energy Drink Philippine dragon team. Photo by June Navarro

CHANGZHOU, China—Pressed for time, the Cobra Energy Drink Philippine Dragon Boat team brought a reliable crew mashed together on the fly.

The ploy, it turned out, wasn’t enough to create a tidal wave of success in the International Dragon Boat Federation World Cup.

Filipino paddlers came up short in retaining their titles in the standard 100m and 500m mixed team events yesterday and are bound to go home empty-handed from dragon boat racing’s biggest stage.

“In a tournament like this, we need plenty of time to prepare,” said Philippine Dragon Boat Federation president Marcia Cristobal.  “We cannot perform our best with only a week of training.”

Out to defend the gold medals they captured in the 100m and 500m during the 2014 edition in Fuzhou, China, the Filipinos wrapped up their campaign in sixth place for both events at the end of the three-day race at Wujin Taihu Bay Resort.

They also placed sixth in the 400m team relay and wound up seventh in the 1000m and 200m mixed team races, bumping them out of the top five overall standings.

PDBF secretary general Rowena Enriquez said the Philippines could possibly end up sixth or seventh overall among 12 countries.

Practically half of this team participated in Fuzhou two years ago when the country finished second overall behind China with two golds, one silver and one bronze medal.

“This World Cup is the highest level of competition in the sport and far more competitive than the world championships,” said Cristobal. “We should have trained for at least three months. This is the first time we didn’t reach the finals.”

The 26 Filipino paddlers—with majority of the men belonging to the Philippine Coast Guard—were allowed to take time off from their military duties a week before the races.

China’s second team, which shattered the Philippine record of 23 seconds set in 2014 with a 22.496 clocking in the 100m for the gold, also won the 200m and 500m to emerge overall champion. China’s first team also placed second. 

Canada, Thailand and Australia completed the top five.

“I hope we can have more time to prepare for future races,” said Cristobal.