Sava Sprints 2014, an underdog's story

By, Daniel Yam

October 2014

 

A team's self-belief guided them to a major upset in the local dragon boating scene. With a crew made up of inexperienced paddlers taking on some of Singapore's toughest teams and bagging up medals to produce a classic underdog story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A band of brothers: The team's gets in the zone as they prepare for the finals of the race

Photo credits: Mohamad Syafiq B Mohd Sidin

 

 

The Annual Sava Sprint dragon boat race was held on the 27th of September 2014, a familiar race at a different location. Held at Punggol reservoir for the first time, the race site proves to be a lucky charm for the team from Republic Poly. Making an unprecedented move by sending down an inexperienced crew of fourteen first time racers, the team put on a show to give some of the strongest teams in Singapore a good run for their money. Bagging in bronze medals and taking home the respect of others, the underdogs proves that character plays an important role in sports.

 

 

"The strong survives in this sport, but only the daring wins" said Andy Loh, the captain and pacer of the team. "Train your mind and your body will follow suit. Being looked down upon is simply a source of fuel for us", utters the final year paramedical science student as he prepares his team for the final race of the day.

 

 

And what a race it was. Losing to first place by a mere split second, the team left the crowd awed by their courage and grit. Sending down a team made up of fourteen fresh year one paddlers, the original goal of the team was to simply give race experience to the rookies. However, when the opportunity for grabbing medals came knocking on their door, they took it by the throat.

 

 

 

"When fate comes knocking on your door, you lunge at it with all you have. If you never try, you never know. Though we too are pleasantly surprised by the result, we believed all along that our determination would carry us through", proudly proclaimed Adam Tan, a year one paddler.

 

 

The juniors were given a small taste of success and the team now looks for new benchmarks to break. In less than a month the team would be participating in its next race, the Singapore River Regatta where the crew would be riding on the experience obtained in this race.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stepping Stones: The real stars of the race, Republic poly's junior paddlers

Photo Credits: Mohamad Syafiq B Mohd Sidin

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                       

 

 

This hard news article was done for Republic Polytechnic’s monthly online student and stuff magazine regarding student activities. It was published on October 2014