Dragon boats ride Latin wave of popularity

Long tradition

Dragon boat racing started in ancient China more than 2,000 years ago. It is traditionally linked to the legend of Qu Yuan, a famous Chinese poet and statesman from the Warring States Period (475-221 BC).

According to legend, Qu Yuan drowned himself in the Miluo River to protest corruption. Locals rushed to the river in long boats but were too late to save him. They beat drums and splashed their paddles in the water to honor Qu's memory and ward off evil spirits. That tradition evolved into modern dragon boat racing.

Today, the sport is commemorated annually during the Dragon Boat Festival — on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar — in late May or early June.

Dragon boats are long, narrow, and adorned with intricate designs. Teams of paddlers, along with a drummer to set the rhythm and a person to steer, race over a set distance.

Along with the drummer and helmsman, standard boats have 18 to 20 paddlers and smaller boats have eight to 10.

As a competitive event, modern dragon boat racing began in the late 20th century, with the first international dragon boat races organized in Hong Kong in 1976.

The IDBF was formed in 1991. Since then, dragon boat racing has spread worldwide with major competitions held in Asia, Europe, North America and Latin America.

The IDBF estimates that more than 50 million participate in races in China alone.

Worldwide there are over 300,000 paddlers in the UK and Europe, 90,000 in Canada and the US, and hundreds of thousands in Asia, the Caribbean and Africa.

Dragon boat racing requires 22 people to work together, and they are rewarded as a crew rather than as individuals.

"This harmony of purpose can only be achieved through many hours of training in the boat, learning to be a complete crew and developing the team spirit and understanding necessary to work together, as one unit, for the common good," according to the IDBF.