Читать книгу Paddles Up!. Dragon Boat Racing in Canada онлайн

8 страница из 56

Under the guidance of the IDBF the sport has spread to nearly 70 countries on all continents with standard racing rules and regulations formulated by the IDBF. As well, standardized IDBF racing dragon boats and equipment were introduced for world and continental championships in the sport and for adoption by organizations new to the sport.

In a nutshell, dragon boating is way too much fun to be left out on the dock watching.

— Lizz Hanan, Victoria, British Columbia

The modern sport came of age in 2007 when dragon boat racing was recognized as a separate sport from all other paddle sports and the IDBF was admitted into membership of the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) as the international federation and world authority specifically for dragon boating.

Current estimates put the number of participants in dragon boating, worldwide, at over 50 million, of which, it must be said, most are in Southeast Asia. In Hong Kong, for example, around 250,000 paddlers take to the water during the Dragon Boat Festival week. Combined estimates for Europe and North America give a figure of 300,000 people “racing the dragon” each year, of which 70,000 or more are based in Canada.