PUERTO PRINCESA, Philippines – Basking in the afterglow of the country's overall triumph in the just-concluded ICF Dragon Boat World Championships, Philippine Canoe Kayak Federation president Leonora Escollante has a grand plan on how the PH paddlers can further excel in international play.

"While I am proud of what we achieved at the worlds, I believe that there is still some room for improvement. May kulang pa. So that is what we will work on so that our paddlers can be more competitive in international competition," Escollante said.

Armed with months of intense training and cheered by the hometown crowd, the Filipino campaigners thrived and captured overall honors with a glittering haul of 11 gold, 20 silver and eight bronzes for their best finish in the world meet sanctioned by the International Canoe Federation.

They relegated traditional regional power Thailand to second place with a tally of eight golds, while the squad composed of Individual Neutral Athletes were in third place with six gold, three silver and three bronze medals.

As the former longtime coach of the national dragon boat squad and not one to settle for less than excellence, Escollante pointed out "that I believe our athletes can deliver more as they work on the areas they can improve on because the proper technique and execution is already there.

"Among them is boosting their power and we can only do that with the proper nutrition and supplements. Of course, wala kang power kung wala kang tamang pagkain."

Her sentiments were echoed by national coach Duchess Co and national team skipper OJ Fuentes after the four-day competition supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Tingog party-list, the Puerto Princesa City government led by Mayor Lucilo Bayron and Lacoste watches.

"We practically have the same stroke and technique as our foreign rivals. We lack power lang talaga. Nutrition is very important and yun malaking bagay na kulang sa atin," Co said. "Malaking bagay if we can build muscle and get more power in our strokes. Nakita ninyo po naman ang mga kalaban namin, especially from Europe, na malakas at matipuno," said Fuentes, 26, who began his national team more than a decade ago.

Escollante realizes that the federation needs the support and financial resources not only from the government but from the private sector to meet the nutritional requirements and other needs of the national paddlers to boost their competitiveness in overseas competitions.

She now hopes to leverage the outstanding showing of the Philippine paddling squad in the world meet in opening the eyes of private sponsors to the immense potential of the country in the sport.

The PCKF chief said private sector support will be direly needed in the event that the country qualifies for the World Games in Chengdu, China, where dragon boat will make its debut in the sportsfest for non-Olympic disciplines, and the 33rd Thailand Southeast Asian Games next year.

"There is a good chance that the Philippines will qualify for the World Games and the sport will be back in the Thailand SEA Games so we need to maintain and sustain the gains we attained at the worlds in these two big events late next year," she said. TMT