September 12, 2012 - The Filipino Dragons (Singapore), a Singapore-based dragon boat club once again displayed its dominant edge amongst other dragon boat crews by winning three gold medals at the recently concluded 8th Sava Sprints International last September 8 and 9.

Sava Sprints International Dragon Boat Competition is an annual international championship game of the dragon boat teams participated by tertiary men and women from different universities and polytechnics as well as registered dragon boat societies and corporate clubs. This year’s event was held at the Lower Seletar Reservoir, Singapore.

The Filipino Dragons (Singapore) has gloriously defended their title in the Club Crew Open Category where they raced against its strongest rivals, Eunos CSC and Team 2 Dragons in the grand finals, crossing the finish line in 1 minute and 3.02 seconds.

“This is the team’s third consecutive year of winning the Club Crew category’s crown”, said Maria Michelle Nadal Balagot, team manager. “We have practically achieved coming and keeping together as a team. We have done well in training and we were able to maintain an impressive pace, power and aggression during the heats.”

The team also won gold after completing the grand finals event in 1 minute and 10.35 seconds for the Inter-Expatriate Category in which they competed against the strong Singapore-based expat teams, American Dragons, Spanish Armada and the German Dragons.

On its third year of participation, FDS women’s crew has also finally bagged the championship title in the Premiere Women’s category, getting ahead of the defending champs, Singapore Polytechnic with a phenomenal time of 1 minute and 21.03 seconds.

“The girls have waited long enough to get into where they are right now”, said Kristine Marie Gumabay, women’s captain. “We were all fuelled by aggression and passion for the sport, motivated by the will to win and backed by months of hard training and sacrifices.”

Another women’s crew entry composed of FDS juniors impressed the crowd as they progressed to the grand finals, finishing as the overall 3rd runner up.
"I would like to thank all the members especially the Training Committee for pushing the team hard during trainings”, said Coach Harland Baraquero. “Congratulations and I will always be here to support you!”

Baraquero is the resident coach of the Filipino Dragons (Singapore) for more than three years now and is preparing the team for its final race this year which is the 30th Singapore River Regatta 2012 set to kick off on 3rd November 2012.
 
About Filipino Dragons (Singapore):
 
The Filipino Dragons (Singapore) is the first Philippine dragon boat team established in Singapore. The team was formally organized in December of 2008.
 
The first crew members comprise of Filipinos new in the sport and also, veterans from different teams in Singapore and also in the Philippines. A growing number of Filipinos who are enthusiastic about the sport along with their competitive spirit and national pride motivated the paddlers to establish their own team.
 
The objective of the team is to represent the Philippines in the sport of traditional dragon boat. Although this team represents the Philippines, locals and other nationalities have joined and trained with the team.
 
Filipino Dragons (Singapore) is affiliated with the Singapore Dragon Boat Association (SDBA). http://www.filipinodragons.sg