The Canberra Ice Dragons Dragon Boat Club was formed in Canberra in 2003 on the success of a social Canberra dragon boat team. The club then grew to become one of Australia’s premier clubs: in 2009 it broke the Guinness World Record for the longest distance paddled in a dragon boat over a 24-hour period, it was the National Dragon Boat Champions in 2011, and we made our debut on the international stage at the 2012 World Club Crew Dragon Boat Championships in Hong Kong, with the men’s crew bringing home a silver medal.  The Ice Dragons is the only club in Australia to three-times be the Australian National Club Champions: 2009, 2011 and 2014.

Dragon Boat History

The Dragon Boat is deeply imbedded in China’s 'Dragon' Culture, with each boat having an ornately carved dragon’s head at the bow and a tail in the stern. The boat is painted with scales. The paddles symbolically represent the dragon’s claws. A dragon boat team consists of 10 or 20 paddlers sitting two abreast, plus a Sweep who steers the dragon boat from the rear and a Drummer who sits at the front. The team of paddlers work in unison to propel the boat forwards from a standing start, the aim being to reach the finish line in the fastest time.