Lake Buhi, Coast Guard bets rule Dragon Boat Challenge

MANILA, Philippines - Lake Buhi and Philippine Coast Guard dominated the second Cobra Energy Drink-PDBF Club Crew Dragon Boat Rowing Challenge held recently at the picturesque Tagbilaran Strait overlooking the world-class beach in Dauis, Bohol.

An emerging force in the sport, the Lake Buhi paddlers swept the lung-busting standard boat 2,000-meter men’s open  (9:13.48) and mixed races (9:33.14) of the event organized by the Philippine Dragon Boat Rowing Federation and Tapok Tapok Bol-anon with the support of Bohol provincial government led by Gov. Edgar Chatto.

The team of hardy farmers and fisher folk toiling around Lake Buhi in Camarines Sur then capped their campaign in narrowly winning the standard boat men’s open 500-meter race on the final day of the event sponsored by Cobra Energy Drink.

Lake Buhi won it  in one minute, 56.42 seconds, nosing out Army (1:57.26) and  Coast Guard (1:57.90).

With Navy and over 20 strong squads nationwide vying for honors, the two-day event became a dragon boat rowing showcase rarely seen in a long while, according to Cobra senior brand assistant Karlene Sebastian.

Among those that took part was the squad from the Father Saturnino Urios University from Butuan City, the premier industrial and commercial hub of the Caraga region in Northern Mindanao.  

“We would like thank everyone, the Philippine Navy and other top dragon boat rowing squads from all over the country for participating and making the event a truly a national battle of champions,” Sebastian said.

Sharing the spotlight with Lake Buhi were the PCG bets, who ruled four of the eight events on in the dragon boat rowing competition. They reigned in the 200-meter women’s small boat in 58.50 seconds, edging Navy (58.76), with Triton a far third (59.19).

PCG added the 200-meter mixed standard (44.52) to its collection while Army topped the men’s 200-meter race (41.27) on the first day, which was  witnessed by a banner crowd that grew even bigger the following day.

Sustaining their remarkable run on the second day, the PCG paddlers capped their third gold with a lopsided triumph in the 500-meter women’s small boat (2:27.31) before prevailing over Navy in a riveting down-the-wire battle in the mixed standard competition.

They took the gold in two minutes flat, beating Navy (2:00.69) and Triton (2:03.72).