Diamond Phoenix Dragon Boat Club

About

About Diamond Phoenix About Dragon Boat Racing Club Calendar Photo Gallery Useful Links

Competitions

Every year our club competes at the Australian Championships as well as many local regattas.
Training on Lake Burley Griffin

It's wonderful paddling around the lake and seeing the Canberra sites from a new perspective.
(photo taken by Paul Jurak, Kayakcameraman)
Racing at Lake Jindabyne
Ready to race at Docklands Melbourne

About Diamond Phoenix

The Diamond Phoenix dragon boat club (ABN 94293484340) is a Canberra squad consisting of women of all ages and fitness levels. The focus of the team is empowerment and friendship, while continually striving for improvement. Our club caters for social and competitive paddlers.

We compete at local Canberra dragon boat regattas, as well as interstate and overseas. Members also enjoy social events and other fitness activities together. Our philosophy is: Encouraging women in sport: happier, healthier, fitter!

Goals

To give women the opportunity to experience dragon boating.
To enable members to develop their best paddling technique.
To assist members to increase their fitness and endurance.
To improve individually and as a team, and celebrate our achievements.
To create a culture where women feel comfortable to achieve their best.
To encourage and promote women in sport.

Comments

Dragon boating is especially suitable for women who love a bit of competition and like to try team sports. It is also a great way to form new friendships, and get fit in a supportive environment. Women of all ages can participate in the Diamond Phoenix Club.

Katy Gallagher ACT Chief Minister
Thank you to our awesome committee and who are doing an outstanding job, to our wonderful coaches who are so committed, enthusiastic and work so hard with us, and of course our amazing paddlers new and old for pulling it all together and creating such a wonderful team!!

Deborah, Former Team Captain
Can't say I've ever gone along to anything and felt so welcomed and everyone is willing to help with technique etc. Fantastic!

Come & Try participant
Thanks for the great vibe and welcome feel of the club.

member
I have to say that the group of women are amazingly friendly and helpful.

Come & Try participant
Love being part of the DP team and having 'me' time each week!

member
I was fortunate enough to catch up with the ever happy dragon boaters.

Paul Jurak, 'Kayakcameraman' - Canberra Times website
I'm so pleased and proud to be paddling with Diamond Phoenix this season!

member
Thanks for having us on your boat. I had a ball and the gold was an added bonus!! You are a great friendly club to paddle with.

Dragons Abreast member who paddled with us at Jindabyne

About Dragon Boat Racing

Dragon boat racing originated in China over 2500 years ago. While competition has taken place annually for more than 20 centuries as part of folk ritual, it emerged in modern times as an international sport in Hong Kong in 1976.

Dragon boats are 12m long canoe-like boats with twenty people two abreast, along with a sweep to steer the boat and a drummer. For competition events, dragon boats are generally rigged with decorative Chinese dragon heads and tails. Competitions are divided into separate categories depending on the mix of gender and age of the paddlers over a course of 200m, 500m, 1000m or 2000m. Some competitions also have categories for 10 paddlers.

Dragon boat racing is among the fastest growing of team water sports, with thousands of participants in over 60 countries. The sport is recognised for the camaraderie, strength and endurance of participants. It's a great way to build up fitness and make new friends, even if you've never done a team sport or water sport before.

Further information about dragon boating can be found at:

Dragon Boat Racing in Canberra

Dragon boating was introduced to Canberra in 1990 and the governing body Canberra Dragon Boats Association Inc. (now known as Dragon Boat ACT) was established in 1995. Diamond Phoenix was founded in 2006 as Canberra's only general all-women's club. Canberra is home to over ten teams and approximately 900 paddlers.

Dragon Boat ACT is a member of the Australian Dragon Boat Federation (AusDBF), which in turn is a member of the International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF).