Ready, set, row

By Nur Amyraa

ROWING LIKE PROS: The NTU men’s dragon boat team finished third in the Prime Minister Cup last season.
PHOTO: NTU SPIRIT

It seemed like the title was any team’s for the taking, as milliseconds separated them at the start of the 2015 DBS Marina Regatta 500m Tertiary Women’s event.

But with sheer determination and focus, the NTU women’s dragon boat team managed to break away from the pack to take the lead towards the end of the race.

The Regatta, which was held at Marina Bay from 30 May to 7 Jun, was the first time captain Erica Ho rowed with her seniors in a competitive race. However, it will also be her last time racing with them, as they will be stepping down when the season ends in July.

Although she was nervous at the start of the race, Ho brimmed with pride upon finishing.

“We overcame our nerves and that helped us execute the set well to make it a race to remember for the seniors,” said the second-year student from the School of Biological Sciences.

The women’s team also finished second in the 200m Tertiary Women’s event, and eventually won overall champion in the 12-crew Tertiary category.

Additionally, the men’s team came in overall runner-up, having finished second in both the 200m and 500m Tertiary Men events.

The men and women’s dragon boat teams have accrued a total of 3 gold, 6 silver and 4 bronze medals in four competitions this year.

While most varsity teams vie for championship titles in the Singapore University Games (SUniG) and Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic (IVP) Games, the dragon boat contingent is not featured at these Games.

But this does not stop them from training and racing competitively.

“I think it is fine not to compete in SUniG or IVP. In fact, these external competitions give us more reasons to train harder,” said NTU men’s dragon boat captain Siu Jun Yang, 25.

Working together

This year, the men and women’s teams also teamed up in the mixed events at the Marina Regatta 500 organised by dragon boat service provider SAVA, the Singapore Dragon Boat Festival and the Prime Minister’s Cup.

“It was interesting to work with the girls and since we have different coaches, our techniques were different as well,” said Siu.

“But essentially, it was about synchronisation as a team,” he added.

The mixed events proved useful to Ho as well, who said: “Because their strokes focus on different techniques, we are also able to pick up different techniques from their team that we can apply to ours.”

Still going

However, the dragon boat teams are not done just yet — they have their eyes set on the 33rd Singapore River Regatta (SRR), which will be held at the Singapore River from 31 Oct to 1 Nov.

The men’s team is hoping to better their performance in the SRR from last year, particularly in the 22-crew Tertiary Open and National Premier Open.

“This year, we have more than 10 experienced freshman rowers, so I hope that helps our cause,” said Siu.

However, the final-year student from the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering  added that the SRR could serve as practice for the much-awaited Prime Minister’s (PM) Cup at the end of the season in July 2016.

The Cup will most likely see the four local universities — National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore Institute of Management (SIM), Singapore Management University (SMU) and NTU pitted against one another.

“The Prime Minister Cup is special because it is our ‘SUniG’ and covers one kilometre, while the other races are mostly 200 and 500 metres,” said Siu.

He added: “It is also important to us because we only get to prove ourselves after a year of training, during those four minutes of racing.”

Having lost the PM Cup to rivals NUS and SIM after achieving victory in 2009, Siu is determined to reclaim the cup this time.

Siu said: “It is my last time rowing for NTU and it would mean so much to me to bring the Cup back to NTU.”