Honour as dragon boat coach set for GB role

Paul Freemantle said he was delighted by the news

A dragon boat club coach has said it is "truly an honour" after being selected to lead junior teams representing Great Britain.

Paul Freemantle, from the Soaring Dragons in Hathern, Leicestershire, will coach over two years as paddlers compete in upcoming European and world championships.

Mr Freemantle will be coaching in preparation for the 16th European Nations Championships in July and the Hong Kong Dragon World Championship in November 2027.

He said this was huge in a sport that meant a lot to him.

Mr Freemantle became "hooked" on the activity after going to a charity event in Nottingham more than a decade ago.

And he said the sport made participants feel a calmness while they were out on the water.

The Soaring Dragons Dragon Boat Club welcomes people of all ages

Each boat is very "ornate", he explained, with a dragon's-style head at the front, a tail at the back, and scales along the side.

Paddlers pack into the boat and row to the sound of a drummer sitting at the front – with a steerer at the back.

"We take everyone from absolute beginners to people who have been on the water before or kayakers, rowers, anybody that wants to come down," said Mr Freemantle.

"It is one of the most inclusive sports, because with 20 people in the boat, it doesn't make a difference - your age, your sex, your gender - all [that] makes a difference is that all 20 of you are working together.

"We have had whole families in the boat. Not only is it brilliant for your physical health and mental health, being out on the water gives you this strange calmness, even though you are working hard and training.

"It is just also being that close to nature and away from cars, away from people, away from the noise of a busy work and everyday life."

Races take place over various distances, ranging from 200 metres to two kilometres.

Mr Freemantle said because the teams were self-funded, there was often a "financial barrier" blocking some from accessing the sport.

He is hoping to gain further funding for the junior teams, thereby unlocking the activity for the "best paddlers available, not the best paddlers that can afford to go".