Dragon boating is a 2400-year-old sport originating in China where a long, narrow human-powered boat must be paddled.

Boats have twenty paddlers, a drummer and a sweep and generally compete in races over 200 to 1000 metres in distance.

For paddlers, Julie Willis, Rachel Mosen and Fiona Gray, it was a case of deja vu – having represented NSW in previous campaigns.

The trio, members of the masters women’s crew, brought home gold.

“The win was very special for me,” the crew’s land captain Fiona Gray said.

The win in the masters mixed event made it double gold for Fiona.

The medal haul didn’t stop there, with the Swadling family – Gil and wife Pauline – winning three gold and a bronze between them – competing in the grand dragon’s open, women and mixed events.

Newcomers Heather Lovi, Linda Bowman and Rhonda Hughes could hardly contain their excitement at being members of the masters women’s B crew, who recorded a personal best time to win the minor final.

“It was such a thrill to race in front of my family, who live in Perth,” Heather said. “ They even wore blue for NSW and cheered us on.”

This year NSW blitzed the masters and grand masters categories, winning all races. Julie Willis commented that she was most proud to win, going in as the underdog.

“It was particularly good to beat Queensland, which was so dominant in 2007,” she said.

Anyone over the age of 12 interested in Dragon Boating at Penrith, can contact Fiona on 0408 747 906.