Singapore River Regatta post-race report

It has been a wonderful weekend with old friends and coaching a new team. Elite and recreational teams battle it out against each other at the Singapore River Regatta, an annual event that most dragon boaters never fail to look forward to for its adrenaline pumping sprint races and jovial atmostphere that accompanies it which happens right in the middle of the CBD area. The races were a good test of how well prepared the teams were in sprints of 200m with most of the elite teams coming under 50 seconds. This post focuses on the results of the team I coach i.e. Kaki Bukit CSC aka OneStroke and their performances and how we can improve further in the many sets of races that we have taken part in. 



Day 1:
0824 hrs

Event: 12 crew Inter Business Houses & Clubs Open Heat 3

Timing: 1:01.84 min

Position: 1st

Report: Coming into this race, participants were highly anticipating a close fight between all the teams as they make up mainly of recreational paddlers. OneStroke performed better than expected with a victory on the first event, due mainly to very good composure at the race starts and maintenance phases. Strong emphasis on technique observed and strong maintenance throughout the set. They applied what they learnt in allowing the boat to glide for the next stroke and it was well balanced. Can see an effort in the last charge although there were minimal gains in speed overall at the end. Overall: Good set





1100 hrs

Event: 12 Crew Inter Business Houses and Clubs Open Quarterfinal 5

Timing: 1:02.42 min

Position: 4th

Report: This race would be the deciding factor to whether we would qualify for the semi-finals. Hard luck as it is, timings were poorer than the initial heats as they went down very very unprepared. Rushed through the practice start set. Slow race starts and transition was very poor. Lacked composure and timing throughout the set. Lesson learnt: Go down mentally focused and never let anything external affect that. If you let your race before the race gets started, you will start having oxygen debt in your lungs before you even start the race. Learn to relax especially when you hyperventilate before the race by breathing in deep breaths. 



1154 hrs

Event: 12 crew PA GRO Men


Timing: 1:03.56

Position: 2nd

Report: This race was to be a race to redeem the last race where they didn't meet the mark. Racers went down well prepared this time, knowing what to expect. Took their time to the race start point and executed the plan as best they could. Missed out on 1st place by a whisker but good effort overall. Technique and execution was well coordinated. Still having problems with last charge at the end. 

1606 hrs

Event: 12 Crew PA GRO Men Final

Timing: 1:02.89

Position: 4th

Report: This race was overall disappointing for all the paddlers. Paddlers felt stressed over the competition and lacked mental composure to finish off the race strong. Maintained good lift off at the starts, up to the 100m mark where they flopped once the whistle for the last charge was blown. Timing was caterpillar in nature from back to front and no one could get it back in time to push for the last charge; losing their initial speed from the starts. Need to work on consistency for all their sets. 

The saturday was a good start overall although there were many disappointing moments for the team. I don't blame them knowing that they tried their best to execute as much of the sets with a fundamentally new approach of racing. I felt that it was almost a 180 degree shift in paradigm in the way they were thinking and racing in their previous race in North East CDC where they faced a challenge of believing in stroke rating as opposed to letting the boat glide. The guys were learning that we can do a race with intensity as opposed to stroke rating. We will see if these improvements will be brought forward to Sunday's races. 

Next post, SRR race day 2! Cheers!