It has, at various times, been a cultural tradition dating as far back as Ancient Greece, a 2000-year-old Chinese sport, and the best way to get fit while you sit.
It has been described as both a challenging, endurance testing sport, and a social event; an activity to take at your own pace, and a core-blasting workout.
It's a sport, a hobby, a tradition and, when the boats sail along on the surface of the harbour, a great spectacle.
Dragon boat racing has been around for millennia, and it's a regular fixture on the Newcastle Harbour, where the Hunter Dragon Boat Club's various teams train a few mornings a week.
It's a sport that welcomes all sorts, coach Steve Smith told the Newcastle Herald, but the Hunter's club has become an enviable success both at home and internationally.
With 138 members, it is the largest club of its sort in NSW, and in the past few weeks after competing on the national circuit in Perth, the local women's team has been invited to contest the world championships - to be held in Ravenna, Italy, in September.
Early on Friday, May 24, Mr Smith was on the water coaching a cohort Lambton High School students as part of the sport's 'Dracademy' - a national initiative supported by federal funding to entice young people into dragon boat racing.
Students from years 7, 8 and 9 crewed the boats as they paddled through the harbour waters on a brisk start. Herald photographer Peter Lorimer captured a shot of the vessel as it passed beneath the bridge to Carrington.
