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Paddles Ready is your go-to podcast for everything happening in the world of paddle racing.
Hosted by Dougie and Hando, the show brings you inside the sport with race reviews, real-time commentary, and conversations with paddlers from across the globe. Whether it’s breaking down major competitions, sharing behind-the-scenes stories, or hearing directly from the athletes shaping the sport, this podcast keeps you connected to the pulse of paddle racing.
From elite races to grassroots scenes, Paddles Ready covers it all, giving you insight, perspective, and the stories you won’t hear anywhere else.
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It's that time of the week. And how do we build a community in dragon boating? How do we build a boat? Well, you, you, you do reach out to the local communities. You have done it countless times. You have built some of the biggest teams, best teams. The youth. Yeah.
Yeah.
That's something that's passionate about you that we need to drive.
I think that we need to really develop from grassroots up. I was elected, um, vice president and became the senior vice president, so that's 2IC to the president.
Nice.
If he's incapacitated- Beautiful ... in any way, then I step in.
It just shows again how much this sport is family-orientated and how much, uh, we love it being that.
You know, when we have an event, you've got the whole family supporting the person
Paddles ready
This is Paddles Ready, the global voice of paddle sports. Live commentary, race coverage, athlete stories, and expert analysis from across the world of paddling. From dragon boat racing to ocean ski, this is where the competition, the culture, and the stories come together. Let's get into it.
We're here with Meri Gibson on a, an official capacity this time.
Yeah.
One moving from the Breast Cancer Paddlers Commission over to, Mary's been a paddler.
Yep.
She's been a survivor. Now she's very heavily involved with the IDBF. Mary-
And Nick, can you just explain to the, to our new people on the podcast, IDBF?
International Dragon Boat Federation. Yep. Which is federations globally, um Mary, tell us a bit about what's happening in the IDBF and your new role. Congratulations as well. Yes, congrats. Uh, Claudio and I think Loretta that we saw in Brandenburg and the whole organisation, uh, committee. Tell us a bit what's happening with the IDBF.
Okay. So, um, yeah, I, I, I was asked to stand for a position and, and didn't really want to. I love my life over in, uh, the International Breastcancer Paddlers Commission. I love my life coaching, uh- Mm ... teams in New Zealand. Um, I'm like, "Do I need this? I'm not interested in..." You know, it's a political position as much as anything.
Yep. Uh, even though you're in a leadership role, and I'm not interested in the politics of anything. Um, and it's usually not a topic I get into. However, I, um, uh, was nominated by three countries, and so I thought, "Hmm, okay, maybe I need to, uh, allow my name to go forward." So I was elected, um, vice president and became the senior vice president, so that's 2IC to the president.
Nice.
If he's incapacitated- Beautiful ... in any way, then I step in, um- And who's the
president at,
at the moment? Uh, Claudio Scremi from- I was gonna say. Isn't it Claudio? He's Italian. And I, um... You know, we, the idea is that, or the concept is that we speak as one voice. So we are on the executive committee. So the executive committee is like the working committee of- Right
the International Dragon Boat Federation. The highest level is the congress, which is all the members, all the member countries. Mm. I think there's 80-something.
Wow,
87. And then, um- Wow ... not all active, but certainly 80-something. And then the council, which is the continental federation. So for New Zealand and Australia, it's Oceania.
Mm. John Holland is the new president. Okay. Um, if you look at Pan American, so Pan Am, that's- Yeah ... Canada, US, uh, all the Latin countries. JoMarie Martinez is the new president there. Um, if you look at Asia, um, I'm not sure who the
president is. Si-
Simon Wan? Uh, uh- Simon Wan is Hong Kong. He's Hong Kong. Hong
Kong.
He's Hong Kong. Yeah.
Yeah, he's Hong Kong. Simon's good.
He's coming on soon.
So yeah, and then we have Europe. The new president there is Anna Socrates. Uh, so we have, you know, continental federations are represented at council level. And then included in the council you have the likes of the para-athletes.
Uh- Yes ... the Athletes Commission is actually on exec as well. You have the sports science, medical. Yeah. Um, you know, the youth commission. They all come in. So the commissions are very similar to IOC. Right. So you kind of mirror that model of- That-
that's the, that's the International Olympic Committee Yeah,
yeah, yeah
where, where we, we, we, we'd love to go. Oh. But just touching back where you said that- Yeah ... one of those segments, the youth. Yeah.
Yeah.
That's something that's passionate about you that we need to drive.
Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, uh, it's an area... Look, I think that we need to really develop from grassroots up.
Mm.
And, and it's a- an area that, that is really tricky because what tends to happen is that maybe in schools they might do dragon boating for a year, then they go off to university, and you lose them.
Or you might pick them up at university for a year. Mm. Yeah. Then they go off and they travel the world, and they have a partner, get married, have kids, i- or, or whatever it might be, and they don't actually come back to the sport till they're probably in their late 30s. Yeah, gotcha. So you miss that whole piece- Mm
of youth, which is a really important pathway. Yep. Um, you know, I've j- I've just, uh, set up a team, um, in the, in the LGBTQIA sector- Yes ... in New Zealand, and, uh, had a- Like
Different Strokes here in Australia.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Okay. Exactly. And um, I had a, a new paddler join, and I said, "Oh, do you know anything about the sport?"
He said, "Oh, yeah, I paddled for the such and such a school." And I went, "Oh, they were the best boys school in Christchurch- Yeah. Yeah ... back in the day. They won all the national championships." Well,
2016. Yeah. Where have they-
One of the schools that came
over to there ...
yeah. Where, where have they gone? Um- And, and he said, "I haven't been in sport, I've..."
He, he's led a pretty tricky path since then. Yeah. Mm.
He probably hasn't paddled for 20 years.
Hasn't paddled for 20 years. Yeah, there you go. And he said, "I'm clean." Yeah. So I... That gives you an indication- Mm ... of where he's been. Yes. Um, and I need to get back to, to living healthily.
Yeah.
And I said, "Mate, you've come to the best place."
And he said, "You seem really nice." I said, "I'm an awesome coach, mate." Yeah. "I'll look
after you." Welcome. Get your
paddle, get in the boat. So, so come back. And he said to me afterwards, "This has been so good. Can I bring my sister?" "Absolutely you can." And I had two, two new paddlers in that team I set up. They were from squash.
They were really disillusioned with squash. And I said, "Come and join us." They were young, early 20s, and they've loved it. Awesome. So I think if you can engage them in a way that they feel important, they feel part of the sport, as opposed to a hierarchical structure telling them what to do every five minutes- Mm
or what they can and can't do, but just saying, "Hey, come along and enjoy yourself." Yeah.
Get the time in the seat and paddle.
Absolutely. Have some fun. Yeah. Yeah. And that, to me- Yeah, that's awesome ... is really important.
Well, I, I got some news this morning actually. Oh. Talking about family members. Oh. My son came down, Ben, my eldest, and he said, "Guess what?"
Said, "I know. You made your bed." He said, "I've signed up to do four free lessons with the Gold Coast Dragons down at Varsity Lakes." Oh. He said, "Dad, I'm gonna go paddling." Well done, Gold
Coast Dragons.
So- Yay ... welcome to the family, Ben. I guess you're in my family. Um, so I've- We'll have to get
him a paddle ...
I'm gonna get, um...
He was walking around- 12 foot ... he was walking around last night with my old wooden one. Oh. Oh, wow. So he's going down to- Great. Fantastic ... I'll give Barry Young a call and give the crew a call down there, and, uh, Ben's going down to get his first four lessons at, uh, Gold Coast Dragons.
Uh- Oh, that's brilliant
that's good. And that's what you want. It's that kind of, um, understanding and, and, and, you know, in my, in my mixed crew, I have a, a mum and her daughter, and her daughter's friend- Yeah ... and her other daughter's best friend, and I'm like, "Fantastic." Yeah. That's great. You know? That's what you want. And they're there, you know, supporting each other in different ways.
Yeah. And, and that to me is what it's all about, is creating the sense of, as we say in New Zealand, whanau, family.
Right.
And, and family is very wide. Yeah. It's not your immediate family or your genetically linked family. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It's, it's a very wide definition of family, and that's what you have in Wairau Waters.
Yeah. And, and I, yeah. And, and, and I love the, the Wairau, and I think... What was the gentleman that, that presented me that pin in, um-
Oh, Tevita ...
Tevita. It was a very special Maori- Yeah ... uh, pronunc- pronunciation Yeah. Yeah. Um, that wa- that was a privilege that you talk about getting watering up when, when Mary and...
What, what was his, uh, name again? Now I can't remember. I can't
remember. No. But
you
say about the family, it um... And once again, this happened this morning. Uh, I missed seeing Loretta Lewis over the weekend. Ah. Because she was doing medals with Mary- Mm. Mm ... and then I'm running around. You're, you're, you had me doing jobs.
So I gave Loretta a quick tingle this morning to say hi, you know, and blah, blah, blah, blah. But
Mary, do you know what happened-
No ...
to Loretta? Tell
us. No. What happened to Loretta?
Mary, tell us what happened over that, that championship. Oh. With Loretta Lewis.
Well- Oh, you mean the presentation? Yeah. She got
inducted.
Yeah. Correct. So, so, um, I knew beforehand.
Oh, did you?
But I didn't say anything to anybody. Yeah. And, and it was just kind of make sure she's there, uh, and, uh, bring her hubby. And yeah, so Loretta was inducted into the- Hi, Rob. Hi.
Hi ... Hi. Hi, Loretta.
Australian Dragon Boat Hall of Fame- Oh ... which is, which was really lovely
well deserved,
well deserved. Yeah. And I did get that, um, congratulations in while I was speaking to her. But I asked her a question, and it was based on, you know, she knew that, um, I was, we were chatting with Mary today And what she... I said, "What's your t- big takes out of the sport?" And she said, "I love it how mom and dad could be paddling."
Mm-hmm. No, the kids go to paddle, then mom and dad have got to take the kids, and then they jump in a boat. Mm. And then-
Mm ...
oh, well, hang on. Why don't you make a whole lot of it? We'll bring nana with us as well. Yeah. I'm not saying nana's paddling. Yeah. But all of a sudden these dragon boat, um, regattas become a family event.
Mm. From the kids who started paddling right through to nana who's coming to watch it all happen, and you're traveling the world as a family. I know it's, you know, it can be a big-ticket item, but it just shows again how much this sport is family-orientated and how much, uh, we love it being that.
Well, and, and we see this, um, I, I, I know this is a segment of, for IDBF, but we see this in IBCPC, is that, you know, when we have an event, you've got the whole family supporting the person.
Yeah. Uh, and, and that's where, you know, with the IDBF where Paddles Ready was in Brandenburg, and now this platform, the, the, the Paddles Ready media and the podcast, Mary, y- you're going to have... Well, you're gonna do a lot of work for us, 'cause you're gonna have a monthly- I know ... monthly session. But- You'll
have your sl- yeah, you'll have your-
Yeah.
And, and- ... your slot, so to speak ... and for the listeners and people tuning in from wherever you are, that's gonna be very important to continue because dragging off, you've got fantastic, uh, newsletters coming out. We've got Paddles Ready newsletters coming out. Yep. IDBF have their newsletters coming out. If we can be the voice and help just get it across- Mm.
Yeah ... and, and talk to different people around the world, uh, different manufacturers. I was talking to Joe in Regatta Sport in Canada- Yep ... uh, the, the, uh, late last night, and, you know, there's so much happening with the world of paddling, but also paddling sports.
Yep.
Outriggers, surf skis, the C1 canoeists, a lot of them are all cross-training.
The outriggers, the, the wakas. Like, how, how many people did you say was in that, that New Zealand-
10, 10,000 at the New Zealand, um-
That's crazy ...
outrigger. 10,000 New Zealand? Yeah. That's crazy. W- or waka. We call it waka, W-A-K-A. Yeah. Waka means canoe.
Boat,
yeah. Yeah, or boat. Yeah.
Good stuff.
Mm. All right,
Nicko.
Well, that's another segment done. We've very-
That's another segment done ...
we've, uh, we've crossed nearly everything I feel for the first, uh-
It's Mary Gibson ... International Breast Cancer's- Thank you. Yes ... Paddlers Commission. Mm-hmm. As we get her out. And we are Paddles Ready. Paddles Ready. I'm Nick. I'm Dougie.
Bye for now. See you later.
All right, we're here with the Melbourne Flames, and this morning I'm with Fonzie. Morning, big fella.
Good morning. Good morning.
So you're our first one for today. 60 seconds with Dougie. You ready to go?
Yep.
What club are you from? From
Melbourne.
Worst excuse for missing training?
No, no excuse. You always have to train, yeah.
Downwind or grind?
Downwind.
Early morning training or sleep-ins?
Early morning.
What's more important, fitness or technique?
Uh, technique.
Carbon fiber or wooden paddles?
Carbon fiber.
Coffee before or after training?
Before, after. Yeah, I'm a coffee drinker. Yep.
Biggest talker on your boat?
We have couple. Lucy
and Michelle.
Yeah. Okay. Sprint or distance?
Uh, distance.
Beers or lemonade, uh, on a Sunday?
Uh, lemonade.
Favorite regatta you've competed in?
So far this one. Yeah.
One tip that makes someone a better paddler?
Consistency.
Complete this sentence: If I wasn't a paddler, I'd be...
A soccer player.
And that's Fonzie from the Melbourne Flames.
Yeah. Thanks, mate.
How are you, Hando? Woo. It's that time of the week. Hot Take week. Hando's Hot Take.
I love these hot takes, except you gotta start giving me a bit of prep sometimes. No, no, no, no.
This is gonna be in your wheelhouse,
actually. We're, we're, we're sit- we're sitting back, we're calm,
clear- No, I was just trying to think how to open it up-
and decisive ... but it's going, it's going to be in your wheelhouse. Okay. And this is, this is not so much a hot take. This is probably, um, mentoring. Uh, anyway, Hando's Hot Take.
Yes.
Mate, how do we build a community in dragon boating? How do we build a boat? I mean, you have been involved in the sport for over 30 years.
You've-
Build a boat, as in a, a new team?
Yes. Not, not, not hammer and nails, you know?
Not a
champion. Not a champion boat.
No.
No. How do you build a team? You have- Oh ... you have done it countless times. You have built some of the biggest teams, best teams-
Well, I bet it's the- ... on, on the water ... it's the o- it's the only team...
Um, look, let's not talk about
the good old Diggers. No, no, no.
So- Some people say, "Hando, stop talking about the Diggers." Yeah, oh well. "Talk about Sunny Coast." Hey. Um, look, there's many different types. Obviously there's people that move. There's, there's paddlers- Yep ... that have been in the sport, and they might move.
Yep.
Whether they're in North America, Europe, um, i- in, in Dubai, uh, or let, let's, let's, for example, we're in Australia, um- Do you, do you- You move to the Central Coast- But do you
put- ... and there's no dragon boat team ... but do you throw the bat signal up in like the old days and they come running? Or, you know, how do you build, how do you build this team?
Well, you, you, you do reach out to the local communities. Yeah. Um, some people do it by their, could be their church groups.
Yep.
Uh, their universities. Um, and, and that's how they build it. And then
that- So sometimes it's a, uh, subsidiary of what their mainstream is.
Yeah. Well, well, they might do a team building event.
Many clubs globally, I know for a fact, have gone in and, and done a team building, got 20 paddlers, entered a corporate race.
I was gonna say, I remember the corporate days in Brissy on the Brisbane River.
Yeah, yeah,
yeah. Corporate days down in, uh, Stanley in Hong Kong
where they- Stanley. Well, they're, well, they're huge.
Yeah. You're talking about sponsorship, everything. But, but, but yeah, th- then you reach out and then, then you... It, it's friends and fa- This is why dragon boating is so good, and, and I think we've touched on it before because not that it's free, it, it is an enjoyable sport where you can paddle for in the, you know, your mum, your dad, your grandmother.
But, but building something where it can be within your work environment-
Yeah ...
it can be within your faith- Yeah ... it can be within your local, uh, foundation, and, and that's what you gotta do.
Yeah.
But to build for, for myself If it, it all depends on what sort of club do you wanna bui- look, breast cancer, that's-
Yeah.
Well, there you go ... that's a, that's a given.
I mean, you know, it's like-
That, that just reaches out and go there. But then do you wanna be a, have a competitive... Like I think we've talked before about, uh, different sports, whether it's netball or, or your local judo club. You might have, uh, you know... And this is why the, the sport is growing so quick- Yep
and so evolving so much, is because the accessibility of how it can grow quickly.
Yep.
Uh, say if I'm in my Brazilian jujitsu team and, "Oh, what do you do?" Again, know your people, ask your people what you're doing- 100%, what they're doing ... your club. And you go, "Well, what? Come down to a training, get a boat." Is it expensive?
Possibly.
Yep.
Yeah. But that, that's where you have the support of the federations. But yeah, I- So what you're saying- ... I personally would go to the rugby club.
Yeah. Um- So what you're saying is, it's, it's a, it's probably a... It's not an overused word, but we use it in today's, uh, life, organically. You build the team organically.
So people, you... If what's... Remember the old Field of Dreams, "If you build it, they will come." That's it.
Field of Dreams. What was that? Kevin Costner. Kevin
Costner.
Kevin Costner. A- and, and- Yeah ... and I'm pretty sure every location geographically in every country has different rules- Yeah ... and regulations about starting a club.
Yes. It is. It's- You basically just gotta get out there if you, if you, if you have the will and you want to take on that leadership and, uh- And that's
the good
thing- ... be the captain, so to speak ... yeah. A- and you've got
all these people that, the, the-
You've got these boats sitting on the side of the, you know, the banks of everywhere around the world.
Oh, my goodness. Walk in. And, and, and, and all these competitive athletes that were in hockey or swimming or athletics or football or rugby or- Yeah ... volleyball, but they can't play those sports anymore. So you're getting teams within teams. Well, without
using
the
name, w- w- without dropping his name because it's a surprise for our listeners.
Ooh. We just recently had a professional... We, we interviewed a professional sportsman who lost the love of his life, which was rugby.
Ah, yeah. Right.
Um, and we're not gonna tell you 'cause it's a great interview coming up with one of our special guests. Yeah.
Truth pro?
Yep. But y- when we spoke to him, you know, he, he, he lost the number one sport he loved.
He was playing at nearly the highest level. He was playing first grade, and had it taken away from him. Mm-hmm. And then someone- Well, that's it ... someone put a paddle in his hand. Wow. And guess what? Now he's representing his country in a different sport, and is one of the best, and one of the best leaders in the sport- Oh, that's...
And, and- ... worldwide ...
and you know what? I think we had a segment talking about that. So that was a hot take.
That was the...
How... Yeah. It, it, it, how, how to build a community, how to build a club. Just get out there.
How to build a team.
Grab a paddle. Building a team. A team of 20 with, again, how many personalities?
100%
About 160. That's a problem.
Thanks, Dougie.
Thanks, Hando. That's, uh, your hot take for the week.
The hot take for the week. Another good one.
Another good one. Thanks, mate. Bye for
now.
See up. Whoo-wee, Hando.
What's whoo-wee? Whoo. How do you mean, how are we? You've just taken out of me again. Whoo-wee.
That was a good one, wasn't it?
They're getting better. They're getting better. Yeah. A bit subdued. Bit, bit- Yeah ... there's some serious stuff there.
I don't think we have to be- Coming to it ... we don't have to be controversial all the time. We can just sit and- No, no,
no ...
you know? I think, uh, when we first- But
we like you-
We love getting the
feedback
to sometimes be controversial. So again- You go- ... you've, you've listened to us, you've listened to us.
100%.
Like us, subscribe us.
You remember back when we first started this six, seven months ago, and Billy, our producer, said, "Just be like a couple of blokes at the bar and just talking like You just love the sport and dragon boating.
There we go. And every, every time I walk the... Every time I walk into the studio, I just have that, and we just talk. So no, we don't have notes, um, whoever asked me if we have notes. We just do this ad lib, but we know what we're talk- talking about, but- Right ... we're just a couple of blokes having a go.
So bye for now.
So subscribe, like, do what you need to do. You know what you have to do, and I'm Dougie. I'm Hando. We're Paddles Ready. Thanks,
guys
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