A NEW team record was flashed by the Aqua Fortis Dragon Boat Rowing Team (AFDBRT) during its recent stint at the 17th Thailand International Swan Boat Races last Sept. 11 and 12 in Ayutthaya, Thailand.
The team’s 3:30 time in the 650-meter race broke the squad’s previous record of 4:07, which they registered in Manila two weeks before the event. In another classic international dragon boat racing competition, the “underdogs” managed to sneak out as the eighth team to finish among 30 others in the restless Chao Phrya River.
“Although we were the slowest in our category, we earned the respect and admiration of the other crews and the crowd because despite our disadvantages, we still raced with everything we got,” team captain Christopher Cueto told the Varsitarian. “We were the only team which had women in our crew and we raced understrength. That is to say that we had only 17 rowers, (nine were women) racing against teams with full compliments of 22 male rowers.”
Thomasian alumni Earnest Versoza (Mechanical Engineering), Ednel Dundee Versoza (Architecture), Mark Joseph Palomera (Commerce), Ray Joseph Gomez (Computer Engineering), Marcia Cristobal (Pharmacy), Reynel Vicente Jr (Commerce), and Mervin Joseph Espina (Arts and Letters) formed the nucleus of the AFDRBT. Rowers from the Ateneo de Manila University High School, University of Asia Pacific, De La Salle University, and Collegio de San Juan de Letran also joined the team’s campaign.
The two-day event showcased some of the best Asian dragon boat teams from Malaysia, Macau, Thailand, Singapore, and Laos.
Meanwhile, the AFDRBT is eyeing another remarkable stint in the 2005 Asian Tour.
“The next step for our team is to prepare the teams for an Asian Tour in 2005. We hope to once again bring pride to the country,” Cueto added.
