BUSINESSES, charities and sports clubs are encouraged to put a team together for this year's Dragon Boat race which is taking place at Coate Water Park on Sunday, June 26.

This will be the fourth year for the event, organised by the Rotary Club of Swindon Phoenix.

Each participating team requires a minimum of 17 people of which 16 are rowers and one is the drummer but around 20 people per team should be available on the day to include reserves if needed.

"We would suggest organisations use the event either as a team building exercise of more importantly to get people to sponsor the individuals involved to raise monies for charities of their choice," said John Fisher of the Rotary Club of Swindon Phoenix.

"Once a team signs up to take part the Club will set up a Just Giving page for the members of the boat to start collecting sponsorship.

"The whole day is a family and community event with many varied stalls to view on site, a dog show, rides for the children as well as food halls and beer tent.

Dick Lovett BMW/Mini is the main sponsor of the event.

Dragon boat racing dates back more than 2000 years to China’s Mi-Lo river and today around a million teams compete worldwide.

The boats are long, elaborately decorated canoes with a dragon’s head and tails attached, and

are provided by Dragon Boat Events Ltd.

The races will comprise of a series of heats over a course of approximately 250 metres. Each team

will race in at least three heats and the fastest teams will go through into the finals stage.

Depending on the number of teams who enter, races will take place every six to ten minutes.

A spokesman for last year's winning team, The Silverbacks said: "What a great day! It was the first time we entered a team and each and every one of us thoroughly enjoyed the whole day. Organisation was excellent from start to finish. Competition was friendly, but fierce. The atmosphere of the event was such that you couldn’t help but enjoy yourself.

Anyone interested in experiencing Dragon Boat Racing should visit the website www.swindondragonboat.ork.uk where they will find the Information Pack and details of the event and how to book a boat. You can also visit www.swindonphoenixrotary.org and find out more about Phoenix Rotary and the work it does within the community of Swindon and beyond.