British Dragon Boat Racing Association
Encyclopedia
The British Dragon Boat
Racing Association (BDA) is the UK governing body for dragon boat
racing as a sport and recreation, recognised by the UK Sports Council.
The BDA controls the sport through its Executive Committee and Council.
The BDA Executive Committee is responsible for the policy, organisation and administration of the sport, at UK level, and for the selection of British crews competing abroad.
As a National Governing Body, the BDA is a member of both the International Dragon Boat Federation
(IDBF) and the European Dragon Boat Federation (EDBF) .
Racing first featured competitively in the UK in September 1980 at the Hong Kong in London Chinese Festival. Races held on the River Thames were won by the Richmond Canoe Club in both the Men's and Women's classes. In 1981 racing featured in the World Canoe and Kayak Racing Championships, held at the National Water Sports Centre, Nottingham. The Lincoln Imps crew won this 500 metre event.
The formation of the DBRC (Dragon Boat Racing Club of Great Britain) in June 1985, was the first serious attempt to organise the sport on a national scale in the British Isles. With the three Hong Kong wooden boats imported for the London Festival in 1980, the DBRC raced fairly regularly during 1986/87, and with the support of the HKTA, built the first fibre-glass dragon boat in the country.
After making its debut on the BBC TV's 'Blue Peter' programme, in May 1986 a dragon boat was raced from London to Nottingham via the canal system by a crew of soldiers in aid of charity. The crew paddled 180 miles (including 180 portages for canal locks) in 9 days and raised over £4,000 for Sport Aid en-route. In 1986 and early 1987 specialist dragon boat groups were formed in Sheffield, Liverpool and Tyneside (although none of them had dragon boats, at this stage).
In July 1987, following an initiative by the DBRC, these groups came together to form the British Dragon Boat Racing Association – the BDA, which was formally constituted as the governing body for the sport of Dragon Boat Racing in the UK at an inaugural meeting held at the National Water Sports Centre, Nottingham.
The 1st National Championships were held in October 1987 on the Serpentine Lake in London's Hyde Park
, where 19 crews contested the 500m races. Elmbridge Kayak Club were the first BDA National Champions over this distance. During 1988 the sport expanded rapidly when over 20 events were held in the UK and the BDA was recognised by the Central Council for Physical Recreation (CCPR) as the sport's governing body and admitted into its membership.
The sport of Dragon Boat Racing was recognised by the Sports Council in 1992 and the BDA as its Governing Body received recognition in 1994.
Lord Sebastian Coe is the current Patron of the BDA.
Premier League teams include:
Kingston Royals Dragon Boat Racing Club
Raging Dragons
Secklow Hundred
Thames Dragons
Dragon boat
A dragon boat is a human-powered watercraft traditionally made, in the Pearl River delta region of southern China - Guangdong Province, of teak wood to various designs and sizes. In other parts of China different woods are used to build these traditional watercraft...
Racing Association (BDA) is the UK governing body for dragon boat
Dragon boat
A dragon boat is a human-powered watercraft traditionally made, in the Pearl River delta region of southern China - Guangdong Province, of teak wood to various designs and sizes. In other parts of China different woods are used to build these traditional watercraft...
racing as a sport and recreation, recognised by the UK Sports Council.
The BDA controls the sport through its Executive Committee and Council.
The BDA Executive Committee is responsible for the policy, organisation and administration of the sport, at UK level, and for the selection of British crews competing abroad.
As a National Governing Body, the BDA is a member of both the International Dragon Boat Federation
International Dragon Boat Federation
The International Dragon Boat Federation is the international governing body for the team water sport of dragon boatracing. The IDBF was founded by representatives from Australia, People’s Republic of China, Chinese Taipei, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Norway, Philippines,...
(IDBF) and the European Dragon Boat Federation (EDBF) .
History
Dragon BoatDragon boat
A dragon boat is a human-powered watercraft traditionally made, in the Pearl River delta region of southern China - Guangdong Province, of teak wood to various designs and sizes. In other parts of China different woods are used to build these traditional watercraft...
Racing first featured competitively in the UK in September 1980 at the Hong Kong in London Chinese Festival. Races held on the River Thames were won by the Richmond Canoe Club in both the Men's and Women's classes. In 1981 racing featured in the World Canoe and Kayak Racing Championships, held at the National Water Sports Centre, Nottingham. The Lincoln Imps crew won this 500 metre event.
The formation of the DBRC (Dragon Boat Racing Club of Great Britain) in June 1985, was the first serious attempt to organise the sport on a national scale in the British Isles. With the three Hong Kong wooden boats imported for the London Festival in 1980, the DBRC raced fairly regularly during 1986/87, and with the support of the HKTA, built the first fibre-glass dragon boat in the country.
After making its debut on the BBC TV's 'Blue Peter' programme, in May 1986 a dragon boat was raced from London to Nottingham via the canal system by a crew of soldiers in aid of charity. The crew paddled 180 miles (including 180 portages for canal locks) in 9 days and raised over £4,000 for Sport Aid en-route. In 1986 and early 1987 specialist dragon boat groups were formed in Sheffield, Liverpool and Tyneside (although none of them had dragon boats, at this stage).
In July 1987, following an initiative by the DBRC, these groups came together to form the British Dragon Boat Racing Association – the BDA, which was formally constituted as the governing body for the sport of Dragon Boat Racing in the UK at an inaugural meeting held at the National Water Sports Centre, Nottingham.
The 1st National Championships were held in October 1987 on the Serpentine Lake in London's Hyde Park
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
, where 19 crews contested the 500m races. Elmbridge Kayak Club were the first BDA National Champions over this distance. During 1988 the sport expanded rapidly when over 20 events were held in the UK and the BDA was recognised by the Central Council for Physical Recreation (CCPR) as the sport's governing body and admitted into its membership.
The sport of Dragon Boat Racing was recognised by the Sports Council in 1992 and the BDA as its Governing Body received recognition in 1994.
Lord Sebastian Coe is the current Patron of the BDA.
Member teams
There are currently 25 member teams in the BDA National Leagues, these are split into the Standard League and the Premier League.Premier League teams include:
Kingston Royals Dragon Boat Racing Club
Kingston Royals Dragon Boat Racing Club
Kingston Royals Dragon Boat Club is based in Teddington on the non-tidal Thames. Kingston Royals DBC was founded in 1988 as the dragon boat racing section of the Royal Canoe Club , and was one of the first dragon boat clubs to race in the UK. The section was formed from a mixture of RCC members...
Raging Dragons
Raging Dragons
Raging Dragons is a Dragon Boat club based in London, UK. The club trains on the Royal Albert Dock at the London Regatta Centre. The club was formed in 2002 as a charity crew called Chinese Professionals, and later Dragonflies...
Secklow Hundred
Thames Dragons