The Inter-School Dragonboat Competition this year was a real blast. Most of us canoeists arranged to meet at Bedok MRT station before proceeding on to Bedok reservoir. We got to see quite a few old faces, like Baba, who was waiting for NJ at the same place, and Dickson, who brought bananas (bless him). There were unfamiliar faces as well, guys who weren’t in canoeing but who wanted to dragonboat for SJI.

One of the main highlights of this year’s competition, I think, was the rain. Yes, the rain. When we reached the reservoir, it was drizzling. By the time we walked over to the pavilion, it was POURING. In fact, it was so heavy, there was one point when you couldn’t even see the trees at the opposite side of the reservoir. The wind before it was awesome too. It blew Luke right off his feet and left him clinging desperately to a pillar! The queer thing is, though, he was flying against the wind, not with it…curious. At the edge of the pavilion, people were shielding the others from the wind and rain with their umbrellas, newspapers, and even their own bodies! Talk about Men for Others.

The competition itself was quite something too. By the way, ‘something’ means ‘completely exhausting’. Most of us sec 3s were involved in a total of 5 races, and boy, was it painful! Having only about a 15 min break between each race didn’t help either. We really had to push ourselves for each and every single race we went for. Oh, and while on that point, we’ve really got to commend Isaac for the sheer grit and determination he showed that day. After one of the 20-men B div heats, he came up all ready for good, nice rest, before we told him that we had to go immediately for our 12-men finals. Yet, he didn’t back out, but went with us all the way. Well done!

All in all, the dragonboat competition this year could be considered a success. Our C div guys got silver in their 12-men boat, while we got 3rd in our 24-men boat. We’ve got to thank our coxswains for guiding and teaching us through the pre-competition period. So thanks! We owe you people a lot. Anyway, our Inter-school Dragonboat competition was pretty cool, and we’re looking forward to the next one!