Dubai: Dubai Flying Dragons' coach Jason McKenzie is quietly confident his teams have the ability to do well when they participate in the World Dragon Boat Racing Championships to be held in Malaysia later this summer.
McKenzie will be leading two teams of 20 members each for the world competition and he is confident of finishing in the top ten in at least the women's category.
"The women have recently won a gold medal on the European circuit two weeks back," McKenzie said.
"I will be more than pleased to see them ending in the top ten," he added.
There are a host of factors for McKenzie's confidence, and the major one is the enthusiasm displayed by the participants.
"We have numbers in our ranks and that means we have the luxury of choosing only the best," he said.
Further afield
In his dual capacity as coach and manager of the Dubai Flying Dragons, McKenzie is also pleased with the response and cooperation they have received from sponsors, in particular Mina Seyahi and Festival City.
"The domestic competition calendar has improved and this in turn has given us the opportunity to travel and compete abroad," he adds.
The sport of dragon boating has been getting increasingly popular all over the world and is reported to be the second most popular sport, with a following of more than 50 million people. Teams from Dubai have been regular visitors at various international dragon boating competitions in the recent past.
"We definitely don't expect the team to return back with the gold medal," McKenzie said.
Golden expectations
"But the expectations have gone way up after they won the gold medal in Hungary recently. I do expect them to be there among the best teams."
The members of the Dubai Flying Dragons practice regularly at Mina Seyahi and the Festival City at the Dubai Creek. The teams have been training together for just under two years, but McKenzie feels the hard work has been rewarding.
"It has been a lot of hard work, but it has been worth it as we have shown steady improvement and the results have started to show," the coach states.
"We could not have been where we are if it was not for the support from our sponsors," he says.
