Aye aye, Captain Georgina

Local dragon boater Georgina Wakim has been named captain of the Australia’s 2014 national dragon boat team.

Ms Wakim will captain the Auroras, alongside Sydney’s Marcio Martins, at the Asian Dragon Boat Championships and the inaugural International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) World Cup later this year.

It’s the second consecutive year Ms Wakim has captained the national team, having been named captain last year and acting as vice-captain the year before.

Ms Wakim said she was selected for the role through a team member voting system alongside the decision of the Aurora’s board.

“For me personally, I hope to be the best captain I can be alongside Marcio and lead a positive and well-connected team,” Ms Wakim said.

Ms Wakim said she started paddling with Docklands team, the Melbourne Flames, five years ago as a way of keeping fit, before then becoming involved with the Auroras.

Currently, the national team is training six days per week, combining two gym sessions, four dragon boat sessions and as many single craft sessions as they can manage.

According to Ms Wakim, dragon boating is a prolific sport internationally.

Ms Wakim said 952 million people across Asia watched the dragon boat events at the last Asian Games and a similar number are expected to watch the first ever IDBF World Cup in June.

The Auroras will leave Australia for a training camp in Hong Kong at the end of May before heading to the Asian Championships and then to the International Dragon Boat Federation World Cup.