Dragon Boat: SIM make clean sweep

Bedok Reservoir, July 9-10, 2011 — The Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) made a clean sweep of the tertiary categories at the 2011 Singapore Dragon Boat Festival.

The men and women of SIM placed were champions in the Tertiary (Men), Tertiary (Women) and Tertiary Mix categories. This is the first time SIM has swept all the categories since the school formed a dragon boat club in 2005.

For the SIM women, this was their first championship title ever.

“Before going down to race, we actually told each and every one of us that we must lead from the starts and to lead by at least one boat length because if we do not, other boats would pull us back,” said Geraldine Ong, the captain for the SIM dragon boat team.

“During the race, although our starts weren’t as powerful, all teams were pretty much on par but we managed to hang on until somewhere during the maintenance distance of about 500m. That was when we started pulling away from NUS and NTU. This pull away definitely boosted our morale, and once our mind was confident and positive, nothing was impossible.

“We kept our composure and did our charge till we couldn’t see our rivals in our blind spots. The feeling of crossing that finishing line first — by one boat length — was truly beyond words can express!”

For the SIM men, they successfully defended their title after seeing off the challenge of NTU.

“It all started at the slipway where the teams were lined-up and getting ready to board the boats for the tertiary finals,” said Teo Tong Loong, the captain for the men’s team.

“As the rowers exchange aggressive glances, the rising tension in the air is palpable. You can feel the air thicken with each inhale and exhale. A strange mix of emotions wells up in you and hearts begin to race as the teams warm up towards the start line,” recalled Tong Loong.

“Before you know it, you hear the blast of the air horn and the race commences. Our supporters were watching from the spectator stand, from the grass patches near the water and they saw our fight to the finish.

After the starts, NTU and us were a few seats in front of the other teams, all the way till 600m when we were on par. However we did a build up at the 600m mark and had a strong charge at around 850m where we managed to pull away and finish about two dragon heads in front,” added Tong Loong.

Tertiary Women — Top 3
1. SIM
2. NTU
3. NUS

Tertiary Men — Top 3
1. SIM
2. NTU
3. Republic Poly

Tertiary Mix — Top 3
1. SIM
2. NTU
3. Temasek Poly

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