They didn't receive their flight tickets until 2 days before their departure, but the team showed up in a big way to win two golds at the IDBF Club Crews World Championships
The Philippine Army Dragon Boat team celebrates their gold medal finish in the 500 meter Premier Open event. Photo from Facebook
They almost
didn’t make it to Italy
With just two
days before they’d have to fly out to the 9th International Dragon Boat
Federation Club Crews World Championships, the Philippine Army’s 18 man Dragon
Boat crew had no plane tickets to the races they qualified for.
The situation
became so dire that Lt. Col Harold Cabunoc, president of the Army paddlers, was
prepared to cancel the trip if they didn’t receive the remaining balance of the
P2M the team needed for expenses.
Intermed Philippines had helped out, sponsoring half of
what was needed while financing from the Armed Forces of the Philippines
With the sand
running out of the team’s hour glass, the owner of the travel agency Dr. Rowie
Gabiola, herself a paddler, extended a life line to the team by allowing them
to settle the balance after they returned.
“She gladly
allowed me to pay it later because she knows that we are a winning team which
is awaited by the other competitors,” said Lt. Col. Cabunoc.
The team flew out
on August 31 for the races which began on September 3, and the team wouldn’t
disappoint.
Of the three
events they competed in – 200 meters Premier Open, 500 meters Premier Open and
2 kilometers – the Philippine champions brought home gold in two of the events,
outlasting the German runner-ups to set competition records in the 200m (47.85
seconds) and finally the 500m (2:06.76) on Sunday, September 7 in Ravenna,
Italy.
The Philippine
Army team fell to seventh in the 2 kilometer race after a collision with Team Netherlands
“I am very proud
to tell the whole world that the Army has world-class dragon boat athletes in
its ranks. They all have hearts of a champion and attitude of a warrior. We
just need to support and mentor them,” said Lt. Col. Cabunoc.
Team co-manager
Jobe Nkemakolam, who previously gained fame after winning a UAAP championship
with the Ateneo de Manila University basketball team in 2008, said the will of
the paddlers was greater than any other competitors he’s seen.
The Philippine
Army team (with Cabunoc at center and Nkemakolam to the right) celebrating
after winning the 200m event. Photo from Facebook
“I have never
seen athletes this dedicated to winning,” said Nkemakolam, who co-manages the
team with Col. Rudy Illeto. “Against all odds without expecting anything in
return. This is the modern ‘band of paddlers.’”
The team arrived
in Italy
Cabunoc says that
Galzote had waited for the team at the train station without knowing their time
of arrival and offered them transportation. Philippine nationals from as far as
Rome and Milan
Asked if he felt
the country's international success in dragon boating would help attract
funding and sponsorships, Cabunoc was coy. "It depends. If sponsors look
at the 'pogi' factor, and not superb accomplishment, we might not get enough
sponsors."
This wasn’t the
first time the Philippine Army team has won medals abroad. In 2011, they won 5
golds and 2 silvers in the World Nations Championships in Tampa Bay , Fla.
The success of
the Philippine Army comes on the heels of the success of another Pinoy paddling
crew which took home 5 golds, 3 silvers and 3 bronzes at the International Canoe Federation
Dragon Boat World Championships in Poznan , Poland
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