History of the Club
Kingston Royals was founded in 1988 and was one of the first dragon boat clubs to race in the UK.
The club was formed from a mixture of Royal Canoe Club members and members of Kingston Rowing Club. We obtained one of the original teak racing boats brought into the country by the Hong Kong tourist association to promote dragon boating in the UK. This boat was used for racing and training prior to the introduction of the new glass fibre racing boats.
The club first started competing in the far east in 1988 and by 1990 was the first European team to get to the finals of any competition. The club also represented Great Britain (GB) at a number of events in the past, prior to the existing GB squad system coming into existence.The club continues to be active within the GB teams and a number of club paddlers have regularly represented the country at European and World level.
The club is now racing at the highest level of racing in the UK following promotion to the Premier Division of the British Dragon Boat National League at the end of 2003. 2004 saw the launch of our second crew, the Kingston Pretenders, providing opportunities for more people to paddle with us. 2011 saw the Royals finish second in the National Premier League 2011 and saw the Pretenders crew crowned Standard League Champions for the first time and we look forward to racing two crews in the National Premier League in 2012.
