Kempsey's Sam Fowler makes the NSW junior squad for the Australian Dragon Boat Championships

The 16-year-old is a member of the Kempsey Macleay Dragon Boat Club's River Rats, and will compete as part of the NSW State Junior Squad after being selected from a large number of juniors across the state who trialed to be a part of the elite crew of young athletes.

His proud mum Belinda Fowler said he is the first junior in the region to be participating at an Australian championship level.

"We are all very excited and so proud of his selection, I cried when we got the email," she said. "He's pretty chuffed about it and couldn't wipe the smile off his face when he saw he was selected.

"It's great to see Dragon Boats NSW make these championships more accessible for regional kids to become a part of these crews because they are usually city-based.

"They've now set it up in a way that allows him to train regionally as well as at the training camps, so it's really good for him to be able to have that opportunity now."

During the championships, the junior crews will compete in categories Small Boat (10 paddlers), Women and Open (Male), and standard boat Mixed (20 paddlers). The race distances are 500 meters with a one kilometre team pursuit racing.

Sam started his Dragon Boat journey only a few years ago after he was "coerced" by his mum to have a paddle to fill a seat in the boat.

"I had already been at the club for a number of years before him so that helped him know some people, but he fitted in so well with everyone, and he really enjoyed it too," she said.

Since then, Sam has discovered a love for the sport, training regularly and even becoming a Level Three Sweep.

"He loves sweeping which surprised me a little bit," Belinda said. "I didn't think he would enjoy that too much, but he's now a Level Three Sweep which means he can steer a boat without being supervised and can compete in races as a sweep."

Sam has been a part of the River Rats team since 2019, competing at local regattas in Urunga, Kempsey, Manning, Port Macquarie, Forster and Ballina.

In 2021, Sam was selected to be a part of the Northern Region Crew (Forster to Ballina) competing at the Inaugural NSW Region v Region challenge held at the Sydney International Regatta Centre.

In 2022, he was also selected as a paddler in the successful Northern Region State Crew which travelled to Adelaide early this year to compete in the Australian Championships against other regional crews from around the state and country.

Belinda said representative Dragon Boat paddling is not for the faint-hearted.

"Sam's training for this national campaign has just begun and includes distance running three time a week, circuit training three times a week, as well as on water training at least twice per week with his own club," she said.

"He needs to submit his results of land training each four weeks showing improvements.

"Sam will also travel to Sydney each month to train with the whole junior team at Dragon Boat NSW's Bank Street facility, a rigorous full day of training with his piers."

Belinda said Sam has set his sights high with his eye on top level competition Internationally.

"After the Australian championships, I can't wait to see what he's going to do next," she said.

"With lots of hard training, Sam's dream is to become an Aurora, Australia's National Dragon Boat Team, to compete in the world championships."

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