Rachel Sullivan may be an upper South Island participation coordinator at Aotearoa’s governing body for golf, but her fundamental sporting pursuit is on another surface.
She’s recently propelled, set for the World Dragon Boat Racing Championships in Germany with Aotearoa’s squad, the Black Dragons.
The multi-crew national team secured three silver and two bronze medals at the most recent world champs in Thailand, in 2023.
Nelson newcomer Rachel’s latest dragon boat status, declared in April after a “hefty” process, wasn’t something she envisaged when she took to the water seven years ago with a Christchurch club.
“I was pretty stoked… It’s a really great team sport, and not just within your team, but you also get to make a nice connection with other paddlers and other crews as well,” she says.
“Being my first [world championships], my personal goals would be to take on everything that we’ve been taught and learn and hopefully grow as a paddler, which I can then hopefully bring to my teammates.”
Paddlers creating feather waves in long, ornate boats to a drumbeat are scarce in Nelson, so Rachel has been priming with the Te Tai o Aorere Tasman Bay Outrigger Canoe Club.
She’s also regularly trained in dragon boats with her former Christchurch club and attended training camps at Lake Karāpiro in Waikato.
Winging to the world champs in early July with a 100-member New Zealand contingent, Rachel says the crew she’ll be racing with will most likely be the premier women’s.
The six-day regatta will be fierce, Rachel and her crew paddling for glory in 200m to 2000m distances with more than 30 countries breathing down their necks.
