Under his enthusiastic and motivational training as the coach for the senior B category (age 50-60) the division achieved its best results ever at the International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) World Nations Dragon Boat Championships, in Kunming, China.

At the last world championships in 2015 the division which includes men’s, women’s and mixed teams, won two silver medals. The hope was that the division would at least match this.

In fact history didn’t support too much optimism. The women’s and mixed divisions had never won gold in this category. Some paddlers had represented Australia over 20 years in various age divisions and had never won a gold.

The results in China speak for themselves with womens 2000m and 200m gold, womens 1000m and 500m silver, mixed – 200m gold, mixed 500m, 1000m, 2000m bronze, mens – 500m and 200m gold and 1000m, 2000m silver.

But it was what happened before they got to China that made the real difference.

“As paddlers are selected from around Australia, it is important to get everyone working as a team,” Cheung said.

“First is to build camaraderie and trust between paddlers. We were fortunate to have a camp in Merimbula, where the crew were able to enjoy the beautiful waterways, hospitality, and excellent dragon boat facilities that we have. It was non-compulsory, however I was really encouraged when paddlers from Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Perth and Tasmania made the effort to attend the weekend camp in July.

“From a paddling point of view, having exactly the same technique and rhythm is essential. We were able to use custom built software that could be loaded onto most smartphones, that provided the coaches high quality data on how each paddler accelerated and ran their training canoe with each stroke. This allowed a uniform stroke no matter where the athletes trained,” Cheung explained.

While good technique is vital, what happens in people’s heads can have a significant bearing on the outcome.

“My philosophy for coaching is one of learning and inclusiveness. It is about doing the best with what you have, and continually working to progress and improve. To be satisfied that you have done everything that you possibly could, regardless what the end result may be,” Cheung said.

“It is like a puzzle, when you have thousands of variables, it is putting them all together to create something that works, then constantly refining it until it becomes better than anything else in the world.

“Medals and podium finishes have never been the goal or motivation, but seeing the Australian flag rising up while your national anthem is playing, is something quite special,” Cheung admits.

This was Cheung’s first time coaching an Australian representative team. He had been asked by the head coach in 2014 if he was interested in coaching, but was training for a paddling position in the premier crew at the time and was not able to do both.

Cheung started coaching in 2006 with a club in Nowra, transforming them to become world club crew champions in 2012. He has also coached NSW state crews, and every Wednesday afternoon at 5.15pm coaches the local Merimbula Water Dragons.

Merimbula Water Dragons member and senior C Australian representative in 2013 and 2015, Lynne Richardson said Cheung had the ability to get the best out of every paddler.

“You come away from every training session knowing that you wanted to give 100 per cent not just for yourself but also for Chris.

“His training sessions are hard work but fun and that’s why you’re prepared to give your utmost and there’s always a good measure of humour thrown in as well,” Richardson said.