Hunter River Dragons take home regional championship trophy

The dragon boaters competed at Darling Harbour, Sydney on Saturday and Sunday, February 17 and 18 in the championship, and after racing in their heat, semi-final and final, claimed 1^st place against teams from across regional NSW.

Hunter River Dragons president Kerry Greenhalgh said the team's hunger to win is what set them apart.

"I think our training, our togetherness, we were just so coordinated as a team, we had the hunger to win and we really knew we could do it," she said.

"We somehow just knew we could do it, and we did it."

The dragons' mixed team of 20 paddlers, one drummer and one sweep took out the prize.

Winning their first heat put the dragons straight into the semi-finals, and winning the semi-final put them straight into the final - so they only had three races on the day.

"We were ecstatic, we were so thrilled to win it and everybody was cheering and clapping and hugging," Greenhalgh said.

"It was a very mixed team, we had people who were in their 70s in the race, people in their 20s in the race, a very mixed bag."

Sunday, February 25 will be the Hunter River Dragons' last 'learn to paddle' day at Queens Wharf, Morpeth.

Meet at the boat ramp between 8.30am and 8.45am to give dragon boating a go. Wear comfortable clothes and enclosed shoes you don't mind getting wet. There will be a barbecue afterwards, all are welcome.