THE Dumaguete Yellowfins conquered the 1st Cebu City Dragon Boat Festival, winning the open category in the Il Corso City di Mare in South Road Properties (SRP) yesterday.
The Yellowfins paddlers clocked 1 minute and 18.32 seconds in the final heat of the 300-meter race en route to winning the open category title and the P20,000 cash prize.
Pundok Amila of Tubigon, Bohol finished in 1:19.01 for second place and got the P15,000 cash prize, while the Bohol Paddlers Association timed 1:19:83 to take third place and the P10,000 cash prize.
Visitors also ruled the mixed category after Bakunawa from Iligan City crossed the finish line in 1:26:56. The Bohol Paddlers got another second place finish in 1:27:02 and Hilera A came in 1:27:93 for third place.
Dumaguete City paddlers also dominated the women’s division as they took a 1-2 finish. Team Umagu bagged the women’s title in 1:33:61 and Dumaguete Yellowfins took second place in 1:33.92.
The Cebuano paddlers, Sugbu Mighty Dragons, finished in third place with a time of 1:34.13.
Cebu City Councilor and deputy mayor for sports Jerry Guardo said that the City and the Cebu City Sports Commission look forward to hosting another dragon boat event in the same venue.
“We have a great venue here at SRP and we want to push and support the dragon boat community to grow,” said Guardo. “Right now the City is in the process of acquiring two dragon boats. We hope these can be completed and delivered this year.”
Guardo said that once the boats will be delivered, the City will reach out to the grassroots and the barangay level to expand the popularity of dragon boat in Cebu City.
“This is also part of our sports tourism program. Right now, there were about 300 paddlers. If we get to host a bigger dragon boat event than this, it would be great for sport tourism,” he said. (RSC)