Local Dragon Boat Sweep Sam Fowler is headed off to Pattaya, Thailand next week to compete in the 16th World Dragon Boat Championships and Kempsey Macleay Dragon Boat Club, Sams home club, couldn’t be prouder!
Sam started his Dragon Boat journey encouraged by mum Belinda to hop in the boat and have a paddle, “its such a great sport, there aren’t many where you can train and compete side by side with your own kids like Dragon boat, and its so nice to be able to spend the time together”. Sam started out paddling and quickly showed his potential in the sport, competing with the River Rats locally, and also in the regional crew at NSW Regional Championships. Sam was then selected as a paddler in the Northern Region State Crew to compete at Australian National Championships in 2022 which were held in Adelaide and then earlier this year he was selected as a paddler to compete at Nationals in Albury-Wodonga with the NSW Junior Crew.
Along the way, Sam discovered a passion for sweeping, “I think he really likes being in charge” Belinda jokes “But actually he is very talented and truly skilled in this role”. At the beginning of this year Sam headed off on his own to Canberra to trial as a sweep for the Australian National Dragon Boat team, the Auroras, along with lots of hopefuls from all over Australia. “I was so nervous for him, but he really impressed the selection team!” Belinda says. The Jnr division coach Jason Han commented “When I first saw Sam sweep at selection camp, I knew straight away he was skilled beyond his age. His confidence and boat control with a sweep oar in hand is spot on!” At the end of February this year the National Team was named, and it included Sam Fowler as Jnr Division Sweep.
Its been an amazing and busy journey since selection, Sam continued with the State team until April when the Nationals were held as he was a paddler in that crew, and at the same time he was getting in as much racing as a sweep that he could. Once Nationals were over, Aurora training began. The Dragon Boat sweep has an enormous responsibility on the back of the boat, he needs to have the trust of his crew. He needs to confidently and skillfully maneuver the boat through the water, particularly tricky on long distance turn races. He needs to call his crew up to execute the race plan, instructing them what to do and when. He is ultimatly responsible for the safety of everyone in that boat. So its a big job really.
Since the end of April, Sam has traveled to Sydney each Wednesday staying with a fellow Aurora family until returning home each Sunday. This has enabled him to be able to train all the Aurora sessions with the majority of the crew who are based in Sydney. Kempsey High School have accommodated distance learning for Sam through this time for which we are very grateful. There have also been a few weekend camps held where the whole crew from all over Australia come together for training and team bonding. Sams integration into the team, his hard work and commitment has been recognized by his fellow teammates, and he was recently elected as one of the Jnr Team captains! A wonderful privilege and an honor.
Left to Right - Jnr Captains
Max P (Sydney Zodiacs) Sam F (Kempsey River Rats) Poppy J (Schols DB Sydney) Jean L (Lakers DB WA)
Sam continues to train alongside his team, a combination of on water practice and on land gym, ERG and beep testing. We are now counting down the sleeps till we fly out next Thursday! The championships will race various distances over 6 days, and our Auroras will be up against elite national crews, specially selected from all over the world. It's going to be a tough time, but they will be having the experience of a lifetime! No matter what happens in Thailand, we are all just so proud of Sam and his entire crew. They have trained so hard leading up to this event, they are one, they are elite, and they are ready. We know they will do their best, and just by doing that they will do us and all of Australia proud!
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to helping Sam along the #roadtopattaya. The campaign is entirely self-funded, so all the support has been really appreciated!
Special thanks to Redpoint Kempsey, Kempsey Saints Football Club, Milly Hill, Kempsey Central IGA, Munro Group McDonalds, Kempsey Bunnings, Mike Spalding Building, and all of the members of Kempsey Macleay Dragon Boat Club and the wider community who have supported Sam raising funds through our brekkies, BBQ's and 100 board, and also those individuals who have generously made a donation. Without your support, we wouldn't have been able to get Sam there! Thank you!!
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