Dragonboat team rows 150km around S'pore coastline - a local first
FOR 28 hours and 31 minutes, 13 men and nine women forsook sleep and pushed their bodies to the limit.
After rowing all day, the team pushed their 300kg boat up a trailer and ran 12km to the Sembawang SAF Yacht Club by night.
This was the time they took to paddle their dragonboat about 150km around Singapore's coastline last weekend.
In doing so, the team raised $15,000 for the President's Challenge and rowed themselves into the Singapore Book of Records as the first dragonboat to circle Singapore.
Apart from battling fatigue, the rowers, aged 19 to 55, had to endure the scorching sun and a thunderstorm.
They are all connected to National Junior College in one way or another - working adults and undergraduates who are ex-rowers and friends of the NJC Dragonboat team.
The boat was steered by Mr Yong Yuen Cheng, 36, a NJC physics teacher who's in charge of the dragonboat team.
Mr Yong had completed one of the world's toughest foot races in July - the 217km Death Valley mega run in California - but said the logistical demands for this event, which took nine months to plan, were more taxing.
ROUGH WAVES
At 8am last Saturday, the boat set off from Changi's SAF Yacht Club, paddling anti-clockwise around the island.
Mr Kho Hao Yuan, 35, a metrologist, one of two who conceived the challenge, recalled an emotional moment. He said: 'When we were crossing the channel from Sentosa to Pulau Bukom, the weather turned bad. We were afraid the rough waves would capsize the boat.'
Mr Yong began shouting out the timing in the storm to keep the team in focus, so everyone would paddle in unison. Meanwhile, a few bailed water out to keep the boat from flooding.
Mr Yuan said: 'It touched me that during those difficult moments, we worked together. We didn't plan this during training.'
More than 16 hours later, at 2am, the tired rowers pushed their 300kg boat up a trailer at Kranji Road.
They then completed a gruelling 12km run to the Sembawang SAF Yacht Club.
Their boat had to be transported on a lorry from Kranji to Sembawang so that it could cross the Causeway.
At 6am, after a hearty breakfast, the team continued their rowing, reaching Changi at 1.30pm - 90 minutes ahead of their target of 30 hours.
When they arrived, the rowers not only had blisters, cuts and abrasions, they also revealed panda eyes when they removed their sunglasses.
'No time to reapply sunblock,' explained Miss Lee Yinjie, 25, a physiotherapist.
Accounts executive Thian Zhiwen, 26, said he was rushed to a 24-hour Choa Chu Kang clinic at 4.30am. He had swollen eyes. He was given the option to pull out but chose to continue.
Two safety boats trailed the dragonboat, with first-aid supplies, food and equipment.
JUMP IN SEA FOR TOILET BREAK
Each rower wore a tracking device on their life vests so that safety crew, family and friends could monitor their positions at sea on the Internet in real-time.
Mr Carey Wee, chief adviser for Asia Tracks, which sponsored the devices, said: 'Each star on the screen represents a rower. If they form a straight line, they are sitting in the boat. If they scatter, it means the boat has capsized.'
Once in a while, one star may fall out of place. That's when a rower jumps into the sea for a 'toilet break'.
Senior Minister of State (Foreign Affairs) Zainul Abidin Rasheed presented certificates to the rowers last Sunday.
He said: 'To think that the rowers were at sea for over 28 hours to set a record and for a worthy cause. It shows the grit and the sense of responsibility of our youth.'
source:
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/st...41604,00.html? 
NO SLEEP FOR 28 HOURS 
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