DBS Marina Regatta 2014

Extreme weather both hot and cold, dragging almost 10kg worth of camera lens (including the new Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM Sports) and gear in my Thinktank Airport Take Off, early mornings while just coming out from a two week reservist, well with these factors, most who know me immediately know I will give it a miss. But the DBS Marina Regatta 2014 is after all the biggest water sports festival in Singapore and there was no way I am going to miss it for anything.

What awaited me was more then just a simple dragon boat race setup which I am used to in my line of work but rather a whole carnival which spans around almost the entire Marina Bay area. Even as early as 9am, you can see the various teams doing their warm ups, team leaders and coaches giving pep talks and supporters camping the good spots. It is as if the whole Marina Bay area woke up to two morning that most including myself would have slept in.

Now in its third year, the DBS Marina Regatta 2014 attracted 140 dragon teams from around the region, including top national teams from Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand. Teams will be gunning for the biggest prize monies in an international dragon boat race, totalling SGD 195,000. As expected, the competition was fierce and seconds or even milliseconds are enough to separate the top 3 teams apart as with the DBS International Premier Open category.

Unfortunately due to the heavy rain on Day 2 morning, all 500m races with the exception of the International Premier Open and Women categories were cancelled. Those who waited till later in the day were not disappointed though as both our local men and women’s national team put up a tough fight and clinched the bronze medal in their respective race categories.

But even if one is not into Dragon Boat races, there were still many things to do and see at the DBS Marina Regatta 2014. From the colourful cosplayers and the Asia Cosplay Meet 2014 to the food stores that satisfied my team’s stomachs while camping for shots, there is never a dull moment at the Marina Bay area. My favourite was the Phat Thai which is a stir-fried rice noodle dish that was so good, it was only after we were was done with it that we remembered we should have taken a shot of it.

Photo Credit: Bryan van der Beek

Over on the far side near the Marina Bay Sands was the Asian Drum Challenge where a total of 16 percussion groups battled it out over the two days. Republic Polytechnic’s Beats Encore won the schools category while Ova Formula won the open category. With their interesting beats and on stage performances, these 16 groups added to the festival atmosphere that brought the whole Marina Bay area alive over the weekend.

Members of the public were also encouraged to capture their cherished moments via ‘selfies’, hashtag the pictures #dbsmarinaregatta and share them online. For every selfie taken at DBS Marina Regatta 2014, the bank will provide a free meal to a primary school student supported by the Student Advisory Centre. The centre is a philanthropic service charity focused on children; in particular, the relief of poverty and advancement of education.

Doing our part for charity, the POPCulture Online team covering the event did our part with a bet that if anyone won, he or she has to treat the rest to roti prata. We were all secretly hoping for Ken Koh’s selfie of the Asia Cosplay Meet 2014 stage to win. Sadly it seemed none of us won but it is still all good as we know that these contributed to the free meals. Two thumbs up from the team for this!

Overall it was a fun filled two days for the team as a good change from our usual coverage duties. I myself was impressed with the magnatude of the event and how the sleepy Marina Bay area can be turned into such a happening festival. Definitely looking forward to next year although I think I should start heading to the gym more to managed the weight of all my camera gear!

DBS Marina Regatta 2014 200M Results (17 May)

DBS International Premier Women 12 Crew	1st	National Team Philippines	1:00:88
	2nd	National Team Thailand	1:01:11
	3rd	National Team Singapore	1:01:87
DBS International Premier Open 22 Crew	1st	National Team Thailand	0:45:32
	2nd	National Team Singapore	0:47:03
	3rd	National Team Indonesia	0:47:35
DBS Tertiary Women 12 Crew	1st	National University of Singapore	1:02:34
	2nd	Singapore Polytechnic	1:03:07
	3rd	Nanyang Technological University	1:04:12
DBS Tertiary Open 22 Crew	1st	Temasek Polytechnic	0:47:82
	2nd	National University of Singapore	0:48:03
	3rd	Nanyang Technological University	0:48:37
DBS Singapore Premier Women 12 Crew	1st	Singapore Paddle Club	1:02:03
	2nd	Nanyang Technological University	1:02:25
	3rd	Team TAM	1:02:42
DBS Singapore Premier Open 22 Crew	1st	Mountbatten Community Sports Club	0:46:83
	2nd	The 300	0:47:01
	3rd	Singapore Armed Forces Sports Association	0:47:16
DBS Corporate Women 12 Crew	1st	Keppel Dragons	1:06:19
	2nd	DBS Asia Dragons 1	1:06:44
	3rd	ExxonMobile Singapore Recreation Club	1:07:28
DBS Corporate Open 12 Crew	1st	Pt. Lintang Kemukus Logistic (Indonesia)	0:55:90
	2nd	DBS Asia Dragons 1	0:56:31
	3rd	Team Mushu Hong Kong Disneyland	0:56:64

DBS Marina Regatta 2014 Results (18 May)

500 metres

DBS International Premier Women	1st	National Team Thailand
	2nd	Philippines Dragon Boat Federation
	3rd	National Team Singapore
DBS International Premier Open	1st	National Team Thailand
	2nd	National Team Indonesia
	3rd	National Team Singapore

Overall champions

DBS International Premier Women	1st	National Team Thailand
	2nd	Philippines Dragon Boat Federation
	3rd	National Team Singapore
DBS International Premier Open	1st	National Team Thailand
	2nd	National Team Indonesia
	3rd	National Team Singapore