Fremantle Swan Dragon Boat Club
費曼爾圖天鵝龍舟俱樂部
About Us
Club History
The Fremantle Swan Dragon Boat Club was started in 1981 when our founding club President, David Blackley (1933-2025) went to Hong Kong for the Life-Savers conference and he was introduced to a well know Hong Kong identity - Dragon Boat 龍舟. Since 1979, Dragon Boat racing had seen a resurgence among the Hong Kong Fishermen community and the Hong Kong Tourism Board was looking for overseas teams to compete in the early International Dragon Boat Festival and so the Fremantle Swan Dragon Boat Club was born. It was the second dragon boat club to be formed in Australia (but now the longest in existence).
Starting from humble beginnings training a converted surf boat, FSDBC made as the first Australian team to compete in Hong Kong and Macau dragon boat races, and we also designed and built the world's first aluminum boat.
We cherish our sister club relationships with the Hong Kong Chai Wan Fishermen Recreation Club (柴灣漁民娛樂會) and the Stanley Fishermen Recreation Club (赤柱漁民娛樂會), and we continue to honor our history and friendship to this day.
Competition
Since those early days, the club has had the honour and privilege to be invited to race in places such as Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, Penang, and Taipei on many occasions with some good success. Participation in these competitions is a tradition of the club and we look to send a team overseas at every opportunity.
On the domestic front, we compete at regattas throughout the year in Perth and Bunbury culminating in the WA State championships. In April we send teams to compete in the National championships with a number of members also qualifying to compete for the WA State team at the event.
Of course, we have lots of fun along the way and always uphold club traditions wherever we go. We also make sure that what happens on tour...stays on tour!
A club for all
While we are a competitive club with a heritage of success, we are also a family club. Many juniors and parents paddle, although not together (that wouldn’t be cool!).
The Fremantle Cygnets are our Junior team. They are awesome!
They were National champions in 2013 and 2016.
Between 2013 and 2019, 18 FSDBC juniors have gone on to represent Australia at international competitions in Hungary, Canada, France and Thailand.