About World Cup

IDBF World Cup

About the World Cup

The International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) hosts the World Cup (WC) biennially in the year immediately following the World Dragon Boat Racing Championships (WDBRC). The WC is always held in China, and athletes represent their respective home countries.

First held in 2014, the WC is considered by many to be the pinnacle of competitive dragon boat racing; it is invite-only and generally only the top twelve countries from the prior year's WDBRC are invited (based on performance and medal counts).

Racing Format

Racing at the WC differs from standard WDBRC (or CCWC) racing:

• Premier class only - no Junior, Senior, BCP, ACP, or Paradragons classes
• Gender divisions are men, women, and mixed - no open division
  • Paddlers, steerer, and drummer must all be male in the men's division
  • Paddlers, steerer, and drummer must all be female in the women's division
• Men's/women's divisions are only run in small boats, while the mixed division is only run in standard boat
• Race distances are 100m, 200m, 400m, 500m, and 1000m
  • 400m and 1000m are men's/women's divisions only (in small boats)
  • 100m, 200m, and 500m races are mixed division only (in standard boat)
• 400m and 1000m races are conducted as relays
  • Each nation's men's and women's crews are on the water at the same time, starting at opposite ends of the racecourse
  • Men's crews begin their race, and once they reach the finish line (where their women's crew is waiting), that women's crew is allowed to begin their race going back the other way until they reach that finish line (where their men's crew started)
  • Times of each nation's men's and women's crews are averaged to calculate final finish time

Team USA Selection

Selection criteria differs year to year, but usually, Team USA Premier athletes solely from the prior year's WDBRC are eligible for/comprise the WC Team USA crews. The USDBF generally only sends 26-28 athletes total to the WC because only Premier athletes compete at the WC, and because men's/women's divisions are only run in small boats and the mixed division is only run in standard boat.

That squad typically consists of:

• 10 male paddlers, 1 male drummer, 1 male steerer, 1 male alt
• 10 female paddlers,  1 female drummer, , 1 female steerer, 1 female alt
• 1 coach (who also may be one of the above athletes)