Péter Hegedűs, Head of Unit at the University Library and Archives of Széchenyi István University, won one gold and two silver medals at the 14th IDBF Dragon Boat Club Crew World Championship in Ravenna in September. Following his successful performance as a member of the medal winning team, he is now recruiting intensively as a coach to introduce the sport to new students and to encourage more of them to join the University team, which has achieved good results over the years.

This year's Dragon Boat World Championships were held in Ravenna, Italy, from 3-8 September, with 163 teams competing from 30 countries. More than 5,000 athletes competed in 10-person small and 20-person large boats in women's, men's and mixed categories. The scale of the event is demonstrated by the fact that a total of 475 races were launched over the course of six days.

Péter Hegedűs, staff member of the library of Széchenyi István University, coach of the University’s dragon boat team, won three medals at the World Championships in Ravenna. (Photo: András Adorján)

"Last year, Miklós Nyerges, coach of the Szarvas-based dragon boat association, Körös Dragon, approached me with the opportunity that if I joined their team and participated in joint training sessions, I could compete with them at the 2024 World Championship in Ravenna. It was a great honour for me to join one of the most successful clubs in the country," said Péter Hegedűs, Head of Unit at the University Library and Archives.

The excellent results proved afterwards that the right decision was made, as the team won silver medals in the 500 and 2000 metres races and gold in the 200 metres race with the help of Hegedűs. "It was a great experience to participate in the World Championships and I’m immensely proud that we became world champions. Although I am still competing, first and foremost I am a coach nowadays, so I hope that this result can serve as motivation for my students," he said.

As he said, the dragon boat team of Széchenyi University was founded 12 years ago and he became its coach. He has the necessary qualifications and has also completed the University’s sports diplomacy programme. Over the years, he has built up a very successful club in Győr, which is one of the strongest university clubs in the country.

"My aim is to introduce dragon boating to our students, as it is a healthy form of exercise that can be practised in the beautiful surroundings of the Moson-Danube in the neighbourhood of the campus. To popularise it, my colleagues and I are recruiting and, in addition to making it possible to register online soon, we plan to organise days where students can try kiteboarding in an organised way. We are talking about a real team sport, which offers a lot of community experience, not only during successful competitions, but also during the training sessions," concluded the world champion.