KUCHING – Ahead of the debut of the Swinburne Dragons Race Team in the upcoming 9th Sarawak International Dragon Boat Regatta, three current members of the Swinburne Dragon Boat Club (SDBC) joined forces with several of the club’s alumni to take part in the 8th Federation of Chinese Associations International Dragon Boat Race 2023 on 17 and 18 June 2023 at Likas Bay, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
The three SDBC members – President Marc Harting Ajin, Vice President Rehvathee Krishnan as well as Pau Nian Ong, who is in charge of Public Relations for the club – all performed outstandingly in Sabah, placing third in three events for their team.
Pau and Rehvathee were part of the second runner-up team for the C11 800-metre mix race. Pau was also part of the team that won third place for the C4 800-metre mix race, while Marc was part of the second runner-up team for the C6 800-metre race.
Despite being a young club, established only in 2020 and greatly hindered by the global Covid-19 pandemic in its early years, this was not the first time that the Swinburne Dragons had achieved impressive results at international races.
In 2022, members of the Swinburne Dragons also contributed to several medals in both the 8th Sarawak International Dragon Boat Regatta and the 7th Federation of Chinese Associations International Dragon Boat Race.
After collaborating with other dragon boat teams over the last two years, this coming October will see the Swinburne Dragons debut as a fully-fledged race team with their participation in the 9th Sarawak International Dragon Boat Regatta to be held at Kuching Waterfront.
(From left) Rehvathee, Marc and Pau at Kuching International Airport before flying to Sabah for the race.
Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus Lecturer James ChunHan Loi, who serves as the club advisor and team manager of the Swinburne Dragons, expressed his congratulations to the team.
“This is further testament to the students’ determination to make the Swinburne Dragons debut in the upcoming race on home turf a great success for the team and the university,” he said.
Students and alumni who are interested in joining SDBC can email dragonboat.club@students.swinburne.edu.my or visit the club’s Instagram and Facebook pages (@swinburnedragonboatclub) for more information.
Members of the public who would like to collaborate with or sponsor the Swinburne Dragons can email their team manager at chloi@swinburne.edu.my.
For more information on Swinburne Sarawak, visit its website (www.swinburne.edu.my), Facebook page (@swinburnesarawak), Instagram page (@swinburnesarawak), Twitter page (@Swinburne_Swk) or YouTube channel (Swinburne Sarawak).