The Auckland Dragon Boat Association (ADBA) has confirmed the athletes selected to represent the region at the 2026 New Zealand National Dragon Boat Championships, to be held 27–28 March at Lake Karapiro.

The Auckland Regional Representative programme brings together paddlers, sweeps and callers from clubs across the region to compete collectively against other regions from around the country. The squad will again race to defend the Ben Afitu Shield, awarded each year to the region with the most victories across multiple divisions at the national event.

The 2026 programme is led by Head Coach Bill Lomas, with Umar Ali joining the coaching team this season as Assistant Coach.

Athletes have been selected from 10 dragon boat clubs across Auckland, reflecting the depth of talent within the region. Clubs represented in this year’s squad include

• Busting With Life
• City Dragons - Tāmaki Makaurau
• Dragon Riders
• Hauraki Blues
• Jaffettes
• Lion DBC
• Pink Dragons
• Random Jaffas
• Steel Dragons
• Waitemata Warriors

While these clubs will also compete under their own banners at Nationals, the Auckland Representative programme provides an opportunity for the region’s strongest paddlers to unite and race as one team against other regional squads.

At the 2026 Championships, Auckland will field six representative crews in the following divisions

• Premier Open Standard
• Premier Women's Standard
• Senior A Open Small
• Senior A Women's Small
• Senior B Women's Small
• Senior C Women's Small

Head Coach Bill Lomas said the programme focuses on building a competitive and supportive squad environment.

“The Auckland representative crew is about bringing paddlers together from across the region to train hard, race well and support each other,” he said. “It’s always exciting to see athletes from different clubs come together to represent Auckland at Nationals.”

The Auckland representative crews are six-time winners and current holders of the Ben Afitu Shield, which was renamed in 2024 in honour of the late Ben Afitu, a respected leader in both dragon boating and waka ama.

The representative programme provides athletes the opportunity to train alongside top paddlers from across the region, develop racing and technical skills, and compete at the highest level of dragon boating in New Zealand.

We wish all selected athletes the very best as they prepare to represent Auckland on the national stage.