QUEANBEYAN woman Rhiannon Davies is making strides in the water after recently achieving her goal of making the Australian dragon boat racing team, the Auroras.
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Next year, Miss Davies will travel to Canada as part of the team to compete in the 2015 World Championships.
"The Auroras is kind of the best of the best [dragon boat racers] in the country...so I was very excited to be picked. I'm in the premiers age group which is 25 - 40-years-old. It's the biggest age range and quite highly contested," she said.
"When I received my acceptance email, I did a happy dance around the office. It didn't really sink in for a few days."
The 26-year-old said she was hooked on dragon boat racing from the get go.
She is a member of the Canberra-based Komodo Dragon Club and is coached by Kristin Chick.
"I fell in love with it from the first session," the Queanbeyan property manager said.
"I really enjoy paddling, the club is like a second family. The club I'm with, we don't care about results, it comes naturally from everyone working together.
"And although we are paddling individually, it's very much a team-based thing. You have to watch the stokes...and if you're out of time it ruins the rhythm of the boat and the run of it."
Miss Davies also coaches and competes in calisthenics and plays netball for the Jerra Joeys. However, she said next year she will focus on her dragon boat racing.
Maintaining her fitness is her number one priority.
"I've really got to keep up the hard work now," she said.
"We have to make sure we maintain our fitness because we could be switched in or out, even if we've been selected, if our fitness drops. It's very competitive."
It costs approximately $10,000 - $20,000 per athlete to travel and compete to the international competition.
Miss Davies has received a boost with her gym waiving her fees and she recently received a $600 grant from Queanbeyan City Council.
She said funding is quite difficult as dragon boat racing is still a relatively unknown sport.
"We are trying to get it as a Commonwealth sport to be recognised to be in the Olympics," she said.
"Obviously, if that happens we might get recognised for funding."