Tarquin is an extrovert with a larger than life approach to everything he does. This attitude has been transferred to dragon boating and he has an infectious influence on his fellow paddlers. He is always the first to extend a hand of friendship to new and old paddlers and his booming voice can always be heard during regattas congratulating other teams regardless of their placing. He is a sportsman of the first order.

His robust personality has made him a significant draw card to the sport of dragon boating. His presence on open days or DA corporate days is often underscored by an uncanny ability to attract people to his ‘domain’ and allow them to regale them with his exploits in Dragon Boating. His friendly demeanour and tall stories make people warm to him and thus the sport.

Tarquin has always extended his hand to assisting the Dragon Flyers and the CDBA in promoting the sport of dragon boating. This is particularly evident with the Dragon Abreast corporate days where Tarquin has often coached more teams than others. And this also transpires into the regattas themselves where he sweeps many boats. Tarquin also organised and managed the highly successful CDBA involvement in the Olympic Torch relay in 2008. His energy in ensuring that the CDBA was cast in the best possible light in this event was most commendable and worthy of recognition.

Finally Tarquin was responsible from 2005 until 2008 organising the CDBA fun days. This was not an easy task and resulted in him spending much of his ‘down time’ arranging things for the pleasure of his fellow paddlers.

Provide Opportunities for People to Enjoy the Sport

As mentioned previously Tarquin has extended himself, often at his family and business expense, beyond what one would reasonably expect of someone who is passionate about dragon boating. Additionally he has been a large part of the Dragon Flyers committee that has seen the Club attract and retain more than 90 paddlers to its ranks in the past three years.

Despite the pressures placed on Tarquin as the Head Coach of the Dragon Flyers during this significant period of expansion, he always found time to provide extra paddling tuition to club members despite their status within the Club. Importantly he has been to the fore in allowing the Dragon Flyers to follow its vision which is ‘Dragon Boaters that know how to have fun and win’. His antics at regattas have been there for all to see. Tarquin’s extraordinary ability to make people enjoy the ‘dragon boating moment’, whether it be at regattas or at training, is legendary.

He works extremely hard to ensure that everyone has fun while being competitive. For example he instigated a single line parade of all Dragon Flyers through the ranks of other clubs during a regatta in 2009. This event served to improve the morale of the Dragon Flyers while allowing other Clubs to enjoy the occasion by taking the ‘rinse’ out of the Flyers. All in all this was a classic example of Tarquin injecting a bit of fun and enjoyment into Dragon Boating.

Tarquin has been influential in getting people to remain with the Dragon Flyers Club simply through his inclusiveness and terrific sense of humour. He injects ‘the fun’ into the sport. We are in no doubt that this allows paddlers to remain engaged in the sport.

Assist participants to reach their full potential

As the Head Coach of the Dragon Flyers Tarquin has had a significant influence on paddlers realising their full potential. As a consequence the Dragon Flyers had more paddlers (approx 35) representing the ACT in 2010 than ever before. Indeed two of its paddlers represented Australian in May 2010.

Tarquin’s energy in encouraging paddlers to be their best is second to none. Tarquin is also to the fore in inviting coaches from other clubs to observe the Dragon Flyers and provide constructive feedback on technique as well as offering paddling tips. We are not aware of any other Club that does this. As a consequence of this learning experience the Dragon Flyers are better off as a Club and as individual paddlers. Importantly Dragon Flyers appreciate that their coaches are not too far off the mark.

Tarquin spends an extraordinary amount of time registering teams in regattas and ensuring that all paddlers are in teams that are as competitive as possible. Often he will place less capable paddlers in the more competitive teams to give them ‘the experience’. This has the desired affect and encourages paddlers to better themselves.

Provide opportunities for participants to express their skills at all levels of performance

The previous comments support this selection criterion. But as a coach Tarquin is happy to receive feedback from his coaching efforts from those he is coaching. This allows paddlers to feel as though they are providing the appropriate feedback and allowing them to develop as paddlers. Indeed he encourages this feedback. Tarquin has also been instrumental in developing Club surveys which allow Club members to provide feedback on coaching etc. Tarquin takes this feedback onboard and implements it in his coaching plan.

In 2009 Tarquin invited two of the CDBA’s more experienced coaches to join the Dragon Flyers so that their experience would assist the Club’s paddlers improve their performance. This underscored his desire to improve the skills of the Club’s paddlers. Importantly this recruiting action is testament to Tarquin’s ability to forget his ego for the benefit of the Club. There aren’t many coaches of this calibre.

Tarquin is arguably the best known personality in the Canberra Dragon Boat scene. He is an actor, a musician, a sportsman and a businessman. And he uses all of these attributes to entertain and enhance the Canberra Dragon Boat scene, and especially his own Club.

He gives a great deal to the Dragon Boat community, expecting little in return except to see smiles on the faces of all paddlers. His sense of humour is second to none and his booming voice can be heard across the lake encouraging paddlers to do their best, enjoying themselves in the process. He is the first to offer congratulations to another team for their efforts in a race - win, lose or draw.

In summary, Tarquin is one in a million. His energy for Dragon Boating knows no boundaries. He is an inspiration to all dragon boaters and his example would be hard to beat in any sport. Tarquin is highly recommended for the being granted life membership of the CDBA.