Dragon boat racing is a team paddling sport where the participants use a dragon boat, a traditional Chinese long boat with up to 20 paddlers.

This sport originated in ancient folk rituals of contending villagers, and competitions have been held for around 2000 years in the southern part of China.

In dragon boat racing competitions, the dragon boats are rigged with Chinese dragon heads and tails. In some competitions, the decorative designs are removed, but the drums remain.

Dragon boat race Dragon boat race

Dragon boat racing is practiced around East Asia and Southeast Asia, and has been part of the Asian Games.

Usually the crew of a dragon boat team comprises of 22 members, 20 paddlers, 1 drummer, and 1 steerer, though the number of paddlers can vary from 10 up to 50.

A race is usually a sprint event. The most common distances are 200, 500, 1000, and 2000 meters. The races for a 2000-meter race are usually held on a 500-meter course.

Dragon boat competitions at the international level are usually organized by the International Dragon Boat Federation.

Dragon Boat at the World Games

Dragon boat was one of the Canoe Sport disciplines that featured at the 2025 Chengdu World Games. The dragon boat races at the World Games cover three distances - 200m, 500m, and 2000m with crews of 8 or 10 athletes. Here are the medalists who won gold at the end of this event:

Event Medal Name Country
Open 8-seater 2000m Pursuit Race Gold ANDRIYANI Riska
IRWAN
DAPIT
KUSWANDI Roby
DAYUMIN
RESKI Wahyuni
MARYATI
SUTRISNO
NADIA Hafiza
MENI Nur		 Indonesia
Open 8-seater 500m Gold MATVIIENKO Olesia
BARDASHEVSKYI Yurii
SEMENIUK Serhii
KALMUS Oleksandr
KUKHARUK Danylo
VERKHOVETSKYI Mykola
BURAHO Olha
SVYRYDIUK Viktor
PETRENKO Kateryna
SKVORTSOVA Olena		 Ukraine
Open 8-seater 200m Gold ANDRIYANI Riska
IRWAN
DAPIT
KUSWANDI Roby
DAYUMIN
RESKI Wahyuni
MARYATI
SUTRISNO
NADIA Hafiza
MENI Nur		 Indonesia
10-seater 2000m Pursuit Race Gold MATVIIENKO Olesia SVYRYDIUK Viktor VERKHOVETSKYI Mykola BARDASHEVSKYI Yurii SEMENIUK Serhii
KALMUS Oleksandr KUKHARUK Danylo MAZURENKO Anastasiia BURAHO Olha
ZHYHAILO Snizhana PETRENKO Kateryna
SKVORTSOVA Olena		 Ukraine
10-seater 500m Gold ANDRIYANI Riska
MUGI Harjito
SUTRISNO
IRWAN
DAPIT
KUSWANDI Roby
DAYUMIN
RESKI Wahyuni
MARYATI
YUDA Firmansyah
NADIA Hafiza
MENI Nur		 Indonesia
10-seater 200m Gold MOONKASEM Pranchalee SANGTHONG Vipavas KREEPKAMRAI Natthapon SANGPAN Chitsanupong FAENGNOI Suradet BORRIBOONWASIN Kasemsit
WANNAMANEE Phakdee CHAIKAN Jaruwan
KAWSRI Praewpan
PORADOK Sukanya
NOPSRI Nipaporn
BOON-EM Sukon		 Thailand