FRESH from its stint in the 2018 CCB (Asia) Hong Kong International Dragonboat Races wherein they defended their International Paradragon Championship title, the Philippine Accessible Disability Services, Inc. (PADS) Adaptive Dragonboat Racing Team will be competing in their first local race today via the First Ormoc Dragonboat Mayor’s Cup.
The PADS got a personal invitation from Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez to join the race, said the team’s coach, Christian Ian Sy.
The team will be racing in the 300-meter open small boat and mixed standard categories.
According to Sy, this is the first local race for the team this year because the ones held in Naga and Boracay were international races held here.
Among the teams seeing action in the inaugural dragonboat race in Ormoc are Bakunawa of Iligan, Kujaw Marajao of Surigao del Norte and BSU of Tacloban which Sy considers as their toughest competitors.
The PADS team is manned by 40 paddlers, headed by Paralympian Arnold Balais.