PUERTO PRINCESA. — More private sector support for better and more powerful execution in international competitions.
This is what the Philippine Canoe Kayak Dragon Boat Federation keenly intends to work on after the country’s overall triumph in the just-concluded ICF Dragon Boat World Championships here.
“While I am proud of what we achieved in the worlds, I believe there is still room for improvement. May kulang pa. So that is what we will work on so that our paddlers can be more competitive in international competitions,” PCKDBF president Leonora Escollante said.
Armed with months of intense training and lustily cheered by the hometown crowd, Filipino campaigners captured overall honors with a glittering haul of 11 gold, 20 silver and eight bronze medals for their best finish so far in the world meet sanctioned by the International Canoe Federation.
They relegated traditional regional power Thailand to second place with a tally of eight golds, while the squad composed of Individual Neutral Athletes was in third place with six gold, three silver and three bronze medals.
As the former longtime coach of the national dragon boat squad and not one to settle for less than excellence, Escollante pointed out “that I believe our athletes can deliver more as they work on the areas they can improve on because the proper technique and execution are already there.
“Among them is boosting their power and we can only do that with the proper nutrition and supplements. Of course, wala kang power kung wala kang tamang pagkain.”
Her sentiments were echoed by national coach Duch Co and skipper OJ Fuentes after the competition supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Tingog party-list, and the Puerto Princesa City government led by Mayor Lucilo Bayron and Lacoste watches.
“We practically have the same stroke and technique as our foreign rivals. We lack power lang talaga. Nutrition is very important and ‘yun ang malaking bagay na kulang sa atin,” Co said.
“Malaking bagay if we can build muscle and get more power in our strokes. Nakita ninyo naman ang mga kalaban namin, especially from Europe, na malakas at matipuno,” said Fuentes, 26, who began his national team stint more than a decade ago.
Escollante said the federation needs support and financial resources not only from the government but from the private sector to meet the nutrition requirements and other needs of the national paddlers to boost their competitiveness in overseas competitions.
She said private sector support will be direly needed if the country qualifies for the World Games in Chengdu, China, where dragon boat racing will make its debut in the sportsfest for non-Olympic disciplines and the Thailand Southeast Asian Games next year.
“There is a good chance that the Philippines will qualify for the World Games and the sport will be back in the Thailand SEA Games so we need to maintain and sustain the gains we attained at the worlds in these two big events late next year,” she said.
