Two members of our local Colour City Dragon Boat Club are preparing to paddle against the best in the sport when they head to Pattaya, Thailand, for the World Dragon Boat Racing Championships on August 7 – 13.

The Dragons’ Estella Ferri and Kerry Madden have been selected to be part of Australia’s national dragon boating team, the Auroras.  Estella has been named Captain for the Seniors A team (40 years and over) while Kerry has been selected for the Senior C squad (60 years and over). 

Since their selection in January, the pair have become training mates, keeping each other accountable during both water sessions and gym workouts.

Estella has also been travelling to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane for training sessions with the rest of the Australian Team.

“I feel incredibly privileged, it’s a huge honour, I’m really proud, and aim to support the team to get some medals in Thailand,” Estella said of being named Captain for the national team.

“The Coach is very knowledgeable, so with my background, I can give support emotionally, and with visualisation and positive thinking, being aware of breath and working together as a team,” she said.

“So both the emotional and physical aspects for the team is taken care of.”

Kerry too, is excited to have been selected and said it was something she never expected.

She said she loves the feeling of getting into a boat with a team hungry to do their best.

“I just love to dragon boat,” Kerry said. “You work in a team to do a race. With one heart. One Soul. One team. One goal. That’s the Auroras motto. It's amazing! Never in a million years I ever thought I would make the team.

A Go Fund Me page has been set up to support the Aurora paddlers in their quest for victory in Thailand: tinyurl.com/ColourCityAuroras