The pleasure of life – the category is individual: everyone has their own way and their own preferences. But sometimes they coincide in one common dream and become a common goal. Our heroes are boat drum coaches called Dragon, which are called dragons. Information about a new sport can be “curable”, but about team spirit, shared dreams and plans for the future Andrii and Dmytro told Zhytomyr.Travel

Andriy Laichuk
“Rowing in the boats “Dragon” is a team sport that came to us from China, and, if you believe in Wikipedia, it’s about 2000 years old. Dragonbot is now actively developing in Ukraine. The competitions are officially held in boats, where ten or twenty athletes are simultaneously riding. The boat must necessarily be a drummer who sets the rhythm and steering wheel. The distances are also different: 200, 500, 1000, 2000 meters, as well as distance marathons”

“For me everything began with amateurism two years ago. I was so interested in the dragonbot that I decided to join in its development in Zhytomyr region, especially since I have a sports education. We are now actively involving new entrants, organizing a training process, and running competitions. This year, competitions took place in Zhytomyr within the framework of the festival “Kryla” and “Polisskyi dragon”

“Dmytro and I work with different corporate teams that are formed from various enterprises, organizations, companies and people who are personally interested in dragonbot as a sport. The two work more efficiently: one trainer tracks the technical process on another boat, an outrigger, and the other – manages and follows the work of athletes directly in the boat ”

“Every person has a stake in certain sports, but the team needs, first of all, mutual understanding. For training, everyone comes with different physical training: someone is stronger, someone is more enduring, but everyone needs to be seated in the boat so that people complement each other so that it is a team, as in synchronous sports, where physical interaction should take place”

“Dragonbot allows you to gather a large number of people together. Here you can sit next to women and men, adults and children. There are officially registered open, female and mixed classes. Competitions also take place according to age categories: juniors, premiers, masters and veterans. Everyone is a team and together responsible for the victory, nobody will say: “Do not roam, rest, because you are a girl.” If you come or come – work and, like everyone, bring your plus for the team”

“Rowing in boats “Dragon”, as well as any sport requires funds. Need a base for training, inventory: boats, oars, special trainers, vests, etc. Yes, and the participation in the competition costs some. Conducting competitions is a separate story in general, where you need to invest not only the funds, but also a lot of efforts to organize the event at a decent level. Advertising campaign, awards, team preparation, extra boats and oars, musical support, participants’ eating, documentation processing – and this is not yet a complete list. Therefore, we are grateful to all who help us and support”

Dmytro Moroz
“When we go out into the water, we work as a coherent mechanism in which the work of each helps to drive the mechanism in motion. That is, one or every one is a particle of one whole. The training process differs from the competition, and victories are not always. There is a lot to do with teamwork. From the loser and begin to think: “Why have you lost?”. One thinks that the guilty is different, but you can not just get rid of people in the team, we need to work harder, support, so that people would like to become stronger”

“What can the team sports for Zhytomyr do? Much! By conducting sports festivals, we form teams of representatives from different organizations, for whom this is a great opportunity to rally people and also promote their organization or enterprise both in Zhytomyr and beyond. Dragonbot is gaining popularity in the world; such festivals are increasingly attracting attention. We plan to hold an all-Ukrainian dragonbat festival in order to attract more tourists. We have something to be proud of: wonderful nature, gorgeous landscapes, the river Teteriv will be remembered”

“People come to work, and here is a team. Make new acquaintances, gain experience. Someone wants to try himself in an unusual sport, someone – to support physical fitness. For others, it’s an interesting time spent in the open air and the opportunity to get away from work. That is, everyone has the purpose of something his own, and then the goal is shared: moving forward and the thirst for victory. This is not an individual sport, here everything is different. If the atmosphere is joyful in the team, people are comfortable together, even without having any advantages, I want to come, take care of, and equate someone. You’re still disconnected from work and think only about sports”

“Sport changes people both physically and spiritually. You become stronger and more enduring, learn to work together. Our sport brings people together. In addition, this is a great opportunity for self-development: take part in city competitions, and then you can move to a higher all-Ukrainian level and become an expert from an amateur”

“In 2018, we formed a team representing Zhytomyr region on the Ukrainian Championship. We were preparing a men’s team and women’s crew. The men’s team became the finalists of the Ukrainian Championship at a distance of 200 m, while the women’s team swam in 500 m, took second place. It’s very cool! The girls were happy, because any victory motivates to move on, there is a place to grow. It’s worth it!”

“We want to develop and attract more people to classes, we plan to open children’s sections. There is a desire to form not only amateur or corporate teams in the Zhytomyr region, but also professional ones. We have all the conditions to conduct an all-Ukrainian competition – geography allows. We strive to show both Ukraine and the world that Zhytomyr is a city of sport”

Translated by Aliona Matushevich