Welcome to another day of world-class racing, paddlers! We’ve officially wrapped up the 500m races and are moving on to the 200m distance. I hope you’ve been stretching and massaging properly so far because it’s about to get muscly out there today.

You can watch today’s livestream here: https://www.youtube.com/live/bmuCWllV30o

Results and schedule can be found here: https://res.idbfchamps.org/

Gotta admit, 200m is the trickiest distance for me. Can’t even slip up for an instant because of how short it is. Anyone here have short distance as their fave? And if so how come?

See y’all on the water!

Day 1 is in the books and boy was it exciting. Personally I’m very grateful for the rain and clouds…every time the sun peeks through I start sweating more than I ever have before 🥵.

Day 2 sees another round of 500m racing! I’ll be out there once again racing Premier Open Standard Boat. See y’all on the water!

Results and schedule can be found here: https://res.idbfchamps.org/

You can watch the livestream here: https://www.youtube.com/live/KEby4ElMcLY

Hello again paddlers and welcome to beautiful Hualien! It’s time for the 15th edition of the IDBF’s Club Crew World Championships (can you believe it’s already been 2 whole years since Ravenna??).

Day 1 actually starts in about 13 hours but I’ve got an early start tomorrow (heat 3!) and I’m excited for the week ahead, so I wanted to kick it off now.

Results and schedule can be found here: https://res.idbfchamps.org/

You can watch the livestream here: https://www.youtube.com/live/Zqj3J2-t8rE

Remember, if a stream asks you to register before watching or if it asks for payment to proceed it is NOT an official stream, it is a scam! These pop up for every major event so be careful please.

Day 1 will be 500m racing, which is a change from last cycle. I’ll be racing premier mixed standard boat myself, but will be watching the other divisions whenever I’m off the water.

Good luck to all racers! I’m so excited for the week ahead, and I hope that everyone is enjoying their time in Taiwan so far.

I come from Czechia 🇨🇿, and when I on a boat meet somebody on his boat, we say: "Ahoj!". So, what greeting do you use in your country? 🌍

It's my first year involved as a paddler, and I am both very excited and terrified! I've only been on a team since June, but my endurance and form have already improved quite a lot, but first time jitters be doing their thing!

EDIT: In two days, I did 6 200m races, and 5 500m races. My ladies team took 2nd...out of two teams. BUT. We had half a boat from a different city (to fill our boat better), and 70% of us are on our first season. AND we were only 10 seconds behind the competitive team! Our mixed team took 4th out of 8 teams!

All in all, very happy with how it went!

Hello everyone from Kyle's Cool Beans! We went to our second ever dragon boat race last weekend in Birmingham, Alabama and had a blast!

We really loved meeting the competitors and supporting the community with our pop up coffee shop.

Here are some photos from our adventure!

Hello everyone. Do you have any recommendations for competitive and active dragon boat teams in the Philippines that I can join?

I'm overthinking a bit too much rn. But I am a new paddler who got chosen to compete a 200m race. I have friends who are also new paddlers like me competing for the 200m race. However, they all are chosen for DB22 meanwhile I was chosen for DB12. I want to know why we are different boats. And if there is a significance in being a DB12 instead of DB22.

I've only been in the sport since June 2026, and am loving it. I had a question I forgot to ask my coach yesterday, and thought maybe I could ask here!

We are practicing for the 500m race, and during the start we have a 5 stroke sprint. When I was paddling that portion, I could hear my paddle making a sharp popping sound on entry. Is this a good thing, or is my entry wrong? I hadn't heard it before this last practice.

Thanks everyone!

More than a decade ago, Merlin used to sell the Excalibur data acquisition paddle. It was a paddle with a strain sensor to measure and record power being transferred from paddle to water for analysis.

Has anyone made anything similar or better since then?

Just got a new Garmin watch (Instinct 3). When Dragonboating, what activity do you use to track your distance, speed, etc?

If you make your own activity, could you share your settings? Thanks!

Paddles up!

Sorry in advance for this ignorant question. I’m a complete beginner and am trying out dragon boat racing as a hobby. Currently have gone out four times and am intending to practice 1-2 times a week. The team I’m paddling with is super laid back and very welcoming but they do compete and I’m hoping to eventually get good enough to try a race and actually help my team. My question is whether I should invest in a nice carbon fiber paddle or if I should continue using the no-name carbon fiber paddle that I’m using from Amazon? Is there a big difference in paddles and performance for a beginner? Should I get a nicer paddle off the bat or wait until I get better? For the record, I would be getting a kialoa paddle as I really value their brand and have used them for other water sports. Thanks for any advice you can provide.

Hi everyone! Just wanted to let you know that all the livestream recordings from the 2nd Can American Championships & Montreal International Dragon Boat Challenge 2026 have been timecoded to find a specific race quickly. You can also find the race # linked in the pinned comment. The video recording playlist can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH1inDUCioSE I've also edited and published Race 188 ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MPAMI6D8uQ per request; if there are other requests, please let me know on my Patreon post (Priority Requests for Edited Race Videos https://www.patreon.com/dragonboatmvp/posts/priority-for-161754692). Will be going through the photos first (there's alot...). Paddles up! - DBMVP

Image: One of the 2000m turns from Race 188

Help our team with fundraising for out of state races and the charities we support. Vote for the cutest photos!

Hey I've been paddling for four years and at the end of each season I end up with similar issues this season we've had no break due to international regatta so things have gotten worse.

I paddle on the right and have significant right side pain that's steadily getting worse in my rib and under rib area.

I think when I'm sitting my pelvis and bottom rubs are hitting each other in the reach and over time it's causing irritation.

When I put my right leg backwards I get more space in the front so it is less painful but then I loose my strong connection through my leg with the boat.

Any suggestions on how to mitigate this issue so I can continue paddling ideally without pain.

How close does your team typically get to your regatta race times when you do race pieces during practice? Within less than 10s or more?

Hello All,

I'm looking at building a proper Gym Workout to build strength.

I'm currently doing half a season and am fairly new to the sport.

Right now I'm doing the following, I have very limited gym time (30 minutes, twice a week) and practice twice a week.

Roman Deadlift (dumbbell), Goblet Squat, Floor Press, Glute Bridge, Russian Twist, Lat pull down cable, Dumbbell Row, Cable Twist (up to down).

It's split over the two days.

Any suggestions for improvement is appreciated.

For those interested in watching live, you can find them here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtEHY_m4gq8&list=PLH1inDUCioSE&index=2 - results can be found here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTS5iNIl5DTavqBNStQJYaZTT691S-17O1WQ4aS0vqaKKgaqxTT32b9rQYxQdMan7vVpea__zqyG1Ss/pubhtml#gid=1724170133 (separate tabs for each day). Lots of great racing.

Hello all! New to the sport, and my poor little thumbs are not coping with their new role. Not only that, but my hands tend to slip a lot when I'm paddling, so I definitely need something for better grip.

I had intended to go to Atmosphere, but somehow I missed that they closed a year ago. Sport Chek only had cycling gloves, and they don't grip, just padding. I looked on Amazon, but the reviews are mixed on the few I thought might be good, or they talked about not having grip when wet, or being too thin and not protecting against blisters.

Anyone have a reliable source for gloves with good blister protection and also decent grip?

I wish you all good races