Three Filipinos are among the crew of The Dubai Diggers, one of the world’s most successful dragon boat clubs, as the team competes at the Shangri-La Stanley International Dragon Boat Championships in Hong Kong on June 19.
Mark Anthony Garcia, a freelance personal trainer; Joselino “Joel” De Jesus, an inventory controller in the automotive sector; and Charmaine Esteban, a fashion buyer, are three of the roughly 16 paddlers in the Dubai-based crew. The trio balance demanding day jobs with the early-morning training that competitive dragon boat racing requires, a routine familiar to many overseas Filipino workers who pursue the sport across the Gulf.
The Dubai Diggers are no strangers to the international stage. The team has won six gold medals across world championship events and took one gold, one silver, and two bronze medals at the 2022 Club Crew World Championships. Its roster reflects the diversity of the emirate, with members hailing from 18 countries including the Philippines, Australia, England, and Egypt, and the crew regularly trains in the waters around Palm Jumeirah. In late 2023, Dubai developer Nakheel announced its sponsorship of the team.
The championships are held each year at Stanley Main Beach on the southern coast of Hong Kong Island, timed to coincide with the Tuen Ng, or Dragon Boat, Festival. The festival commemorates the ancient Chinese poet Qu Yuan and has grown from a local fishermen’s tradition into an international sporting spectacle. Crews paddle in long, narrow boats to the beat of a drummer over a 270-metre course.
This year’s edition carries added scale. Shangri-La Group, which holds the title sponsorship under a five-year partnership, said the event anchors a wider festival programme it has branded “Dragonbeat,” and that the championships draw more than 180 teams and thousands of athletes to the beach. The group has appointed Olympic freestyle skiing champion Eileen Gu as an ambassador for the programme, which runs alongside a food fair and a first-of-its-kind beachside after-party.
For the three Filipino paddlers, the appeal lies closer to the water than to the festivities on shore. Dragon boat racing demands precise synchronisation among a full crew, with every paddle entering and leaving the water in unison and a steerer guiding the boat down a tight racing lane. A single off-beat stroke can cost a crew the fractions of a second that separate finalists at Stanley’s crowded, fast-turnaround heats.
The three continue a long record of Filipino involvement in UAE-based dragon boat racing, a community that has sent crews to international competitions and counts paddlers from across the Gulf’s large overseas Filipino population.
