International Federations for Dragon Boating.

Over the next few years, Mike Haslam was instrumental in establishing dragon boat ‘Sport Racing’ as a modern sport, at all levels. In Great Britain and Europe he formed the British Association (BDA) in 1987 and the European Dragon Boat Federation (EDBF) in 1990.

During this period too, following visits to the HKIR in 1987 and 1988, he helped to set up the IDBF Steering Committee, with Bob Wilson and in 1991 when the IDBF was formally constituted, he was elected as its first Secretary-General, whilst Bob Wilson became the IDBF Founding President. The foundation of the Asian Dragon Boat Federation (ADBF) followed shortly afterwards in 1992.

World Dragon Boat Championship Regattas.

In 1995 the first true World Championships for Dragon Boat Racing, as a modern sport, were held at Nanhu Marine Stadium in Yue Yang China. These Championships saw Representative Teams from Countries and Territories from all five Continents, race before an appreciative audience of a quarter of a million Chinese dragon boat fans. (There are purported to be 40 million active dragon boat racers, in China alone).

Nanhu (North) Lake is a portion of China's second largest fresh water lake, called Dongting Hu. The Milo River flows into it and the lake itself is a huge natural reservoir for the lower Yangtse River water-shed. It was appropriate, therefore that the waters that saw the life and death of Qu Yuan, should also witness the first World Dragon Boat Racing Championships, of the modern era.

Following on from the Yu Yang Championships, Canada in 1996, hosted the first IDBF Club Crew World Championships. This was ten years after Canada's first dragon boat race of the ‘modern era’ was held in Vancouver. (However, North America's first dragon boat races were actually held in Toronto in the 1970s using simulated dragon boats, while the first instance of a proposal to organise dragon boat races on the North American Continent, was on October 10th 1945, also in Vancouver.)

Since these first two Championships, further IDBF World Dragon Boat Championships have been staged for National and Territorial Representative Teams, in 1997,1999, 2001 and 2003, as well as Club Crew World Championships in 1998 in Wellington, New Zealand and 2002 in Rome, Italy. Upwards of 20 countries and territories were represented in the IDBF World Championships of 1997 held in Hong Kong, just two weeks before the British concluded Hong Kong's repatriation with mother China. The 1999 World Championships were held in Nottingham, England, the first time they had been held outside of Asia and nearly 1800 competitors from around the world competed.

A similar number of competitors took part in the 2001 World Championships, held in Philadelphia PA, USA. Rowing has always been of great assistance to dragon boat racing and in 2001, which was the 10th Anniversary of the formation of the IDBF, the 4th World Dragon Boat Racing Championships, in Philadelphia, were held on the Schuylkill River Rowing Course.

The 3rd Club Crew World Championships (CCWC) in Rome, attracted over 1700 competitors in more than 80 crews from 16 countries and the special 2003 World Nations Dragon Boat Championships, held in Poznan, Poland, saw nearly 2000 competitors taking part.

A similar number took part in the 2004 Club Crew World Championships held in Cape Town, South Africa, in April and over 1500 took part in the IDBF World Dragon Boat Racing Championships, for National Teams, held in Shanghai in October that year. The 7th IDBF World Nations Championships in Berlin, Germany from 1-3 August 2005, registered nearly 2000 participants and the 5th CCWC in Toronto, from 10-13 August 2006, registered over 2300 participants, proving that the sport, under the IDBF, has developed without precedence as a modern competitive paddle sport.

Participation Levels.

It is currently estimated that dragon boating has developed to the point where over 50 million people in Asia alone and over 60 countries, world wide, ‘Race the Dragon’ in dragon boat competitions around the globe. The majority race in China and South East Asia, with over 300,000 estimated participants in Europe; 200,000 in North America and around 30,000 in Australasia and Africa. For Canoe Sport, it is estimated that figures do not exceed 300,000 – world-wide.

Food for Thought.

At a time when Dragon Boat Racing rituals were well established, the games of Olympia were just evolving from a similar simple religious observance, towards a regularly scheduled grand festival. Both of these two ancient public dramas honoured their gods, heroes and legends. For example Zeus, Apollo and Hermes in Europe and in China the dragon and Qu Yuan - the man whose spirit lives on in the modern world through his legacy of the Dragon Boat Festival Races.

Today contemporary values such as teamwork, cultural diversity, brotherhood, community spirit, athleticism, fortitude and fitness are all glorified in both the Dragon Boat Festival and the modern Olympic Games.

The reality.

Dragon Boating is not merely just a paddle sport, such as competitive canoeing is. The "hun" and esprit of racing dragon boats, goes far beyond a mere sports spectacle and embraces a rich and dynamic cultural fabric that has been observed uninterrupted for more than 25 centuries.

May it always be so, through its traditional Festival Races and modern ‘IDBF Sport Racing’ with its cultural, traditional values and up most respect for the ‘Spirit of Qu Yuan’.