Angel Valdes | March 15, 2023
Panama City is the venue for the Pan American Dragon Boat Clubs Championship, a world-class event that takes place from March 16 to 19, 2023 on the Amador Causeway, with the participation of 92 teams representing 10 countries. reported Fermín Chan, president of the Panamanian Chinese Cultural Center and the Organizing Committee in general.
“The teams from the different countries will compete in the following categories: Under 18 and Under 24; Premier, Senior A, B and C Category. The Cancer Survivors category is made up of 7 teams, distributed as follows: 3 teams from Panama, 1 from Colombia, 2 from Argentina and 1 from Brazil. The 2000 meters will compete on Thursday, 1000 meters on Friday, 500 meters on Saturday and 200 meters on Sunday”, explained Ciro Loo, technical director of this Championship.
Argentina, Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, the United States, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago are the countries that will compete in this great event that represents an important economic income for our country, due to the high hotel occupancy, the rates airport, activation of tourism and the promotion of Panamanian culture to the world.
The presidents of the International Dragon Boat Federation and the Pan American Dragon Boat Federation, Matt Smith and Franco Siu, respectively, thanked Fermín Tomás Chan, president of the Panamanian Chinese Cultural Center, for having brought this traditional sport to Panama since 2015. and for making this year the venue for these competitions. Siu announced that efforts have already been made to ensure that this modality of the Dragon Boat enters the Olympic Games.
The hours of the races will be from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, while on Saturday and Sunday they will start at 7:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. The opening of the event will be on Wednesday March 15 at 3:00 pm in the Gymnasium of the Panamanian Chinese Cultural Center, where all the delegations from the different countries will parade and the protocol act of the awakening of the dragons with the painting of the eyes will take place.
The event will close with a dinner at the Vasco Núñez de Balboa Convention Center at the El Panama Hotel, at 7:30 pm on Sunday, March 19, 2023.
More than a thousand people, including athletes from different delegations and their companions, began to arrive in the country on Monday, March 13, to take advantage of sightseeing, shopping, tasting Panamanian gastronomy, and enjoying the tropical heat of Panama.
Dragon Boats is a Chinese tradition in honor of the poet Qu Yuan who was also a public official and after being unfairly dismissed, sacrificed himself as an offering by throwing himself into the Milou River; Since then the villagers went out in his honor playing drums and throwing rice balls so that the sea monsters would respect his body. This is how this tradition arises in the Chinese community, around the world and for more than 6 years it has been celebrated in Panama.
