Kaohsiung's Dragon Boat Races/端午競龍舟
Kaohsiung's Dragon Boat Races
◎English written by Lin Fang-ju
◎Photos by Pao Chung-hui, Kao Chia-tse
Dragon Boat Festival falls on the 5th day of the 5th month of the lunar calendar. This year's International Dragon Boat Invitational Races were held from June 13-16 on Kaohsiung's Love River. The races were divided into two categories, day races and traditional night races, with a record hundred and eleven teams participating. Nine were international teams, including a team from Kaohsiung's Dutch sister city Amstelveen, who came to participate in the Mixed Open Race. This was Team Amstelveen's first time to participate in Taiwan's dragon boat races.
During the first three days several races were held in the rain; however, it didn't seem to affect the teams' enthusiasm. Luckily by June 16th the weather finally cleared and under sunny, blue skies, crowds gathered at the Love River. The final races were extraordinarily intense and as the crowds enthusiastically cheered them on, teams ferociously paddled in unison to the rhythmic beat of the drum. Kaohsiung's Deputy Mayor Lin Ren-yih came out to cheer on the finalists. Mayor J Van Zancer from Amstelveen also came all the way from the Netherlands to cheer on his team. Despite the heat, it was certainly a memorable occasion.
"Fitness Factory" won the Men's Open and took home a prize of NT$150,000. San Hsin Vocational High School won the Women's Open, winning NT$80,000. The Mixed Open was won by the Dragon King team from the Electrical Engineering and Physics Departments at National Sun Yat-sen University. Dragon King Team defeated Amstelveen's Team by a mere 0.01 seconds. The audience cheered for both teams. Mayor J Van Zancer publicly addressed the contesters in his native language, Dutch, praising them for their great performance. He expressed his appreciation for Kaohsiung's hospitality and promised to come back and join the dragon boat races next year. The Naval Academy won both championships in the College Mixed and College Men's races. This year's dragon boat races were a huge success and a great time was had by all.
端午競龍舟
◎文／王大衛
◎攝影／鮑忠暉．高嘉澤
今年高雄端午國際龍舟邀請賽從６月13 日至16日，一連四天在愛河畔熱鬧舉行，比賽分為白天競技龍舟、夜間傳統龍舟，參賽隊伍高達111 隊，創下歷年之最。值得一提的是，國際組有９隊參加，包括首度來台報名參與龍舟賽的荷蘭市政府阿姆斯特芬市，也是高雄市的姐妹市，挑戰競技龍舟的公開混合組。
前三日的龍舟比賽，因為天氣不穩定，有幾場比賽是在雨中進行，但是選手們熱情不減，奮力地划槳，決賽當日（16日）是難得的豔陽天，愛河畔圍滿了觀賽的人潮，比賽在震天響的加油聲和隆隆的鼓聲中有朝氣地進行著。高雄市副市長林仁益也特地到場為選手們加油。而遠道自荷蘭阿姆斯特芬市市長J Van Zancer范颯能也應邀觀賞龍舟賽，為該市隊伍加油！
決賽日競賽異常激烈，各隊選手默契十足地划著船槳，濺起水花，龍舟飛快地在水面划過，夾雜著鼓聲和圍觀群眾的加油聲，炙熱的天氣讓選手和民眾都揮汗如雨，這是屬於端午賽龍舟獨有的印記。
高雄市龍舟賽公開男子組由「健身工廠」技壓群雄，抱走15萬元獎金，公開女子組由「三信家商」贏得冠軍，８萬元獎金入袋。公開混合組由「中山物研機電龍王號」奪冠，以0.01秒之差打敗緊追在後第二名的「阿姆斯特芬市」，但現場民眾不分輸贏都給與參賽選手熱烈的掌聲，范颯能市長也以荷蘭語廣播稱讚選手們的表現，並表示高雄國際龍舟賽辦得很成功，也盛讚台灣人民很熱情，范颯能市長說他們明年還要再來參加龍舟賽！大專混合組的部份由「海軍官校」鍍金，「海軍官校」並在大專男子組封王，締造雙冠王的亮眼佳績，愛河龍舟賽在歡呼聲中完美落幕。