MANILA – The Philippine dragon boat team claimed the overall title in the 2018 International Canoe Federation World Dragon Boat Championships on Sunday (Monday in Manila) at the Lake Lanier Olympic Park in Gainesville, Georgia, USA.
The Filipino paddlers topped the 10-seater and 20-seater senior mixed 200m and the 10-seater senior men’s 200m, raising their gold medal haul to five.
Veterans Hermie Macaranas and Mark Jhon Frias spearheaded the Philippine team in the 10-seater event as they clocked in 50.46 seconds. Finishing behind were France (53.056) and Hungary (53.158).
In the 20-seater event, the team from the Philippine Canoe Kayak Dragonboat Federation submitted 43.481 seconds to beat Czech Republic (46.082) and United States (46.146).
Led by Macaranas and Ojay Fuentes, the Philippines crossed the line in the 10-seater senior men’s 200m in 47.39 seconds, defeating Italy (49.58) and Hungary, which was almost three seconds behind the Filipinos.
In the 2016 edition in Russia the Philippines bagged only three gold medals.
Moreover the Filipino paddlers took home two silver medals on Saturday in the small boat senior men’s 500m and big boat senior mixed 2,000m race.
They finished second in the 10-seater senior men’s 500 meters with 2 minutes and 06.18 seconds. Hungary (2:05.021) won gold while the bronze went to Czech Republic, which was more than three seconds behind the winner.
The Philippines also placed second in the 20-seater senior mixed 2000m with 8 minutes and 43.98 seconds behind champion Czech Republic (8:42.47). The bronze went to Hungary (8:46.22).
“Congratulations to our dragon boat athletes for improving on their medal tally from their last world championship,” said delegation chief Jeremy Go. “Despite the struggle and adversity, our team has come out on top and continued to impress.”/PN
