Kempsey's Sam Fowler only started dragon boating a few years ago, but he's already made a name for himself after being selected to represent Australia in the 2023 World Dragon Boat Racing Championships.
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The 16-year-old will be flying to Pattaya, Thailand, in August to compete with the Australian junior squad, the Auroras.
Sam will be steering the team as a sweep, a position that is responsible for the safety of the crew on the water, ensuring the boat stays on course and keeping track of multiple obstacles, other dragon boats, water currents and wind.
Sam's mum, Belinda Fowler, said he fell in love with the position while he was training with the Kempsey Macleay Dragon Boat Club's River Rats team. He has since qualified to be a Level Three Sweep.
Sam's selection in the 2023 World Championships caps off an impressive few years for the junior dragon boating prodigy.
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, he 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 selected as a paddler in the successful Northern Region State Crew which travelled to Adelaide earlier in the year to compete in the Australian Championships against other regional crews from around the state and country.
Sam will also be one of many paddlers looking to guide Australia to a gold medal when he represents the country at the Australian Dragon Boat Championships in April, 2023.
He 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.
Sam's training for this national campaign includes distance running three times a week, circuit training three times a week, as well as water training at least twice a week with his own club.
He is required to submit his results of land training every four weeks showing improvements.
Sam also travels 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 peers.
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