PUERTO PRINCESA CITY – Aside from their opponents, unfavorable weather and the change in water current could play a huge factor on the outcome of the dragon boat races.

And that’s exactly why the PH paddlers are hard pressed on their preparations heading into the formal opening of the 2024 International Canoe Federation (ICF) Dragon Boat World Championships on Thursday, Oct. 31 at the Baywalk here.

Testing the waters at the competition venue on Tuesday, Oct. 29, veteran paddlers OJ Fuentes of the men’s team and Lea Baligasa of the women’s side both stressed the importance of preparing for any conditions they might face during the race.

While the weather and the water have been fair and calm through the first two days of their training at the city bay, scattered rain showers and even possible thunderstorms throughout the dates of competitions would certainly play a factor on how the races could play out.

“Ngayon medyo wavy sya pero sa mga nakaraang araw seamless siya pero napractice na rin namin lahat, lalo na umuulan, bumabagyo kasi anytime magbabago talaga yung weather,” said Fuentes.

“‘Di mo rin masasabi ‘yung tubig sa araw, minsan sa umaga flat, then sa hapon malakas yung alon lahat any condition kailangan prepared,” he added.

Baligasa, on the other hand, said the team also need to be accustomed with their boats as well as paddling on the seawater after spending their training on a lake in Taytay.

“Nakakapag adjust naman kami sa tubig dito kasi sa Taytay lake po yung (pinagtitrainingan) namin and dito, sea po kaya mas magaan, kaya inaadjust namin yung technique namin,” said Baligasa.

“Especially sa boat kasi bago yung bangka, kaya inaadjust namin yung technique. Magaan po siya kaya kailangan mong baguhin yung technique mo,” she added.

Fuentes and the rest of the PH paddlers are looking to make a much bigger splash in this year’s edition especially after an impressive showing in the 2018 Dragon Boat World Championships where the Filipinos came out as overall champions after a five-gold, two-silver medal haul.

Top 10 countries with best accumulative times will directly qualify to the World Games in Chengdu, China next year. The PH team will be competing in the 200 meters, 500m and 2,000m in men’s, women’s and mixed events.

“We will do our best na makakuha ng slot ngayon especially advantage natin ay home court. We will do our best na makakuha ng slot sa world games. First time ito, parang ito yung Olympics ng Dragon Boat,” added Fuentes who part of the 2018 team.