Singapore River Regatta 2013: Post Race Reflections

With the Singapore River Regatta 2013 behind me, I have seen all my teams earn credible results in their outings in their respective categories..

Team MSF finished their race beating their previous timings in trainings.. They fought incredibly hard against their much more experienced opponents and I could see it in their eyes that wanted to do better out on their next outing. I admire their courage for taking up the sport and I can see much more potential in them with more to come:)

Team NUS managed to go into the tertiary finals only missing out on a podium spot by mere seconds. Their juniors went in fighting for a spot in the semi-finals of the mens open also missing out by mere split seconds. I only can say that it is only really the beginning of more exciting things come March when they battle it out again with their rivals in their Tertiary Category. It will take time and effort to reach the possible goals that they are going to achieve. It is going to be an excellent season ahead!

And finally, I ended the weekend with a truly deserved second place finishing with Team OneStroke in the PA GRO finals.

The runners up, all smiles!

More of the winning team!

That race was truly a nail biting finish as they were behind for most of the race until the final 25 meters where they edged out the other 2 competitors to finish a close second merely 0.2 seconds behind their rivals.

The race was purely exhilarating even from shore; when we only managed to inch past almost everyone only in the final few meters of the race.

What made that second place finish more delightful was that for many of these paddlers, they have been awaiting a Regatta medal for many years; for a few as long as 5 years and for one, an excruciatingly long 7 years.. I was not only happy for the results but the true happiness it brings to the entire team for them to experience a new level of greatness that they have ever rarely felt before.

It all started from believing in the will to win, regardless of their circumstances and ability because it is all this team truly needed at the start.

The management team with me, Edwin, our team manager and Jojo our captain. 

I have still to learn alot more of this fine art of dragon boat, a classic sport that truly entails all manner of beauty, grace, aggression and skill all combined into one majestic performance on race day.

Time for me to reflect back on my learnings and learn more to share with the world this art and science of dragon boat paddling. Till my next post..

Yours Truly,
The Original Paddlegeek

SINGAPORE RIVER REGATTA 2013: 3 TEAMS, 3 HOPES, 1 MEMORABLE SEASON...

As the race season draws to a close this coming weekend, it is a time of reflection for the things that have happened in the past year. The Singapore River Regaatta 2013 will be the first time in my life, I have taken on as a coach for 3 teams that will be racing both for glory and for one team, the first time they will race in such an event for the first time. It has been such a fulfilling experience coaching these teams and it will most definitely bring me to tears seeing these men and women paddle in a race under my guidance. It seems like I have never expected to have seen myself grow so much more from coaching just as I was when I was a paddler amongst a crew of 22. 

TEAMONESTROKE
Team OneStroke (aka Kaki Bukit CSC) gave birth to my first attempt at coaching and I have defnitely learnt alot from learning how a corporate team would handle my expectations and goals. It was an unusual experience for me knowing how I have been only competing in the past to take up a team that has unusual challenges. Many of these challenges are not new. Attendances, motivation levels, poor training performances and new paddlers coming in halfway through the season. Yet, it seems I have gained an understanding of how to face these issues head on and not allow them to get to my emotions. Somehow, somewhere there was this bit of faith that I had to pursue this challenge of making them a great team regardless of how things turned out and I have seen them grow through my tutelage. Many of the paddlers have begun to see a sense of pride paddling for the team and the bond has grown with each passing training. They begun to understand many facets of paddling in a dragon boat that they may not have learnt before which helps in their performance and seen improvements at a much more efficient pace. Fitness levels have significantly improved and time trial timings have been surprisingly impressive. Going up against their rivals in their category, I only can hope for the best that they can see all this training come to fruition and see the results in their upcoming race. These men and women deserve my salute for taking time off on their weekends to see through training sessions despite family commitments, studies and even time away from their children. 

MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AND FAMILY DEVELOPMENT (MSF)
The year progressed with a small surprise where I took on coaching a team from the Ministry of Social and Family Development (aka MSF). This team is made up of a small band of colleagues, young and old, men and women who would like to take on a new challenge of paddling in a dragon boat team. It started off as a monthly affair, a get together session to build their fitness and  learning the basics of paddling but it slowly turned into a weekly Saturday morning session where they saw themselves grow together as a team and training towards a race. What makes this team so special is that they treat each other like family and they keep in touch to make sure there will always be enough to paddle a 12 men crew. Attendances started from 7 to 14 in the final weeks towards the races, which makes me even happier to see them grow as a team and from learning how to paddle together to learning race sets that I would teach to a typical competitive team. Performances are never the key driver but the relationships that drive their success as a team. They started from almost strangers to friends who would be there for that Saturday to have breakfast together before they start training. It will be a fantastic feeling to see them race. A feeling to have been involved in building up a team of nobodys to a team that will see themselves pit against the best in their category. My heart will light up seeing this team finish the race. I hope I would be able to continue coaching them. All the best to MSF!

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE (NUS) The year was coming to an end when yet another surprise caught me off guard. My alma mater took the opportunity to engage me when they realised they were stuck without a coach and they needed someone they could trust. I was initially hesitant knowing how little experience I had with coaching yet I knew I wanted to take them on to test out everything that I tried out on the above mentioned teams. It was almost a dream come true finally knowing that I could see my growth as a coach be tested out on a highly competitive team that would be able to see through plans that I had set out a year ago when i started coaching. This team has its challenges; stuck between school and team, many of them make the choice of pursuing a sport that would require hours, days, weeks, months to achieve the biggest prize of them all next July; the prime minister's cup. I had to be extremely clear with my instructions to get them to perform to my expectations and there is an uphill task trying to hold this team together long enough to see through their goals. I have more to expect of myself and I know its a tough job. Its only been a month since I took up this team so it would be too early to expect too much of them. They know they have to do well for their own sake. I wish them all the best and I would take no credit for their success in this upcoming race. The captains and team manager have worked well together and it will be soon when they will soar to greater heights. 

I must honestly say I have been truly blessed to have been given the chance to pursue a passion, a passion that I have lived through almost 10 years of my life to finally reach the stage where I can teach, coach and pass down values I believe create success in teams. The satisfaction of seeing these 3 teams just race under my coaching will be something I treasure for a long time to come. Thank god for everything. Thank you for the fantastic year, OneStroke, MSF and NUS:)