Cyprus dragon boat racers aim to showcase ‘little-big’ island spirit

A large delegation of the Cyprus Dragon Boat Federation (CDBF) is heading to Spain to participate in the 14th European dragon boat championship, which will be held from September 1 to 4 at Lake Bagnoles in Girona.

Forty-three racers will compete in the dragon boat event in the premier under 40, adult A up to 50, B up to 60 and C over 60 categories.

The leader of the expedition is Tzortzis Pavlovits, a level 4 coach in the sport, and the team coordinator is Zaharoula Christou, a member the dragon boating federation since 2016.

The crews will compete in distances of 2km, 500m and 200m, in teams of 12 and 22 athletes.

Secretary of the federation, Helen Misseri, said that the event gives the opportunity for Cyprus to show its sporting spirit through a team sport in a European competition.

“We expect that, as in previous missions, our team will make this little-big island proud,” Missery said, adding that the greater goal is to showcase the potential of Cypriot athletes but also to allow Cypriot to learn about the sport and for more people to incorporate sports into their lives.