The dragon boat is a twenty-seat paddled long boat, headed by a drummer. Dragon boat racing sport has been a traditional Chinese paddled watercraft activity for over 2000 years and began as a modern international sport in Hong Kong in 1976.
The beginnings of this sport in Latvia date back four years, when Lithuanian colleagues invited Latvians to participate in a race in Lithuania. The Daugavpils team went.
"We liked it and began to train. At first we only had one training a week, on Sundays. First we used "Voyager" tourism boats, then bought a professional "Dragon"," said Latgale water sports center "Dinaburga" board member Andrejs Tomsons.
The next steps came naturally - one competition, another, and last year they hosted the first Dragon boat festival in Daugavpils. Currently, Daugavpils has two boats and powerful teams who can also compete in races.
This year, the festival on Stropu lake will have more than 350 participants, both in professional and amateur teams. Ahead of the festival, everyone is invited to try out and participate in trainings.
