PUERTO PRINCESA CITY — The Filipino paddlers are far from satisfied despite posting an overall triumph in the just-concluded ICF Dragon Boat World Championships here.

Philippine Canoe Kayak Dragon Boat Federation (PCKDBF) president Leonora Escollante said they have a grand plan on how they can further excel so that they can sustain their momentum and bring pride and glory to the country in the international arena.

“While I am proud of what we achieved in the worlds, I believe that there is still some room for improvement,” Escollante said.

“There’s still something that’s missing. So that is what we will be working on so that our paddlers can be more competitive in international competitions.”

Armed with months of intense training and cheered by the hometown crowd, the Filipino campaigners thrived and captured overall honors with a glittering haul of 11 gold, 20 silver, and eight bronzes for their best finish in the world meet sanctioned by the International Canoe Federation.

They relegated traditional regional powerhouse Thailand to second place with a tally of eight golds, while the squad composed of Individual Neutral Athletes were in third place with six gold, three silver and three bronze medals. 

As the former longtime coach of the national dragon boat squad and not one to settle for less than excellence, Escollante pointed out “that I believe our athletes can deliver more as they work on the areas they can improve on because the proper technique and execution is already there.”

“Among them is boosting their power and we can only do that with the proper nutrition and supplements. Of course, you will not have power if you’re not eating right.”

‘It will be huge if we can build muscles and get more power in our strokes.’

Her sentiments were echoed by national coach Duchess Co and national team skipper OJ Fuentes after the four-day competition supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Tingog partylist, the Puerto Princesa City government led by Mayor Lucilo Bayron and Lacoste watches.

“We practically have the same stroke and technique as our foreign rivals. But we just lack power. Nutrition is very important. That’s what we’ve been missing,” Co said.

Fuentes, 26, stressed that building muscles is essential to their performance.

“It will be huge if we can build muscles and get more power in our strokes. As you can see from our opponents, especially those from Europe, they are bigger and stronger,” said Fuentes, who began competing for the national team more than a decade ago. 

Escollante realizes that the federation needs the support and financial resources not only from the government but from the private sector to meet the nutritional requirements and other needs of the national paddlers to boost their competitiveness in overseas competitions.

Now, she hopes to leverage the outstanding showing of the Philippine paddling squad in the world meet in opening the eyes of private sponsors to the immense potential of the country in the sport.

The PCKDBF chief said private sector support will be direly needed in the event that the country qualifies for the World Games in Chengdu, China, where dragon boat will make its debut in the sportsfest for non-Olympic disciplines, and the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand next year.

“There is a good chance that the Philippines will qualify for the World Games and the sport will be back in the Thailand SEA Games so we need to maintain and sustain the gains we attained at the worlds in these two big events late next year,” she said.