Isabella Taranto – Dragon Boating success continues

If you have been following Isabella Taranto’s rise in national and international Dragon Boating, which we have reported on over the years, her latest achievements will come as no surprise! The following report from Isabella, recounts her most recent success at the 17th IDBF World Dragon Boat Racing Championships, held in Brandenburg, Germany.

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Over the school break, my team and I had the incredible opportunity to represent Australia, at the 17th IDBF World Dragon Boat Racing Championships, held in Brandenburg, Germany, from 14 to 20 July, 2025. The event welcomed over 4,000 athletes from 33 countries, making it the largest world championships ever!

Before heading overseas, we trained intensively with a 9-day camp shared between the Gold Coast and Germany, on top of the preceding 9 months of daily training, to prepare for the competition. The experience was both physically and mentally intense (fainting on 5 occasions and visiting the doctor, as a result of pushing beyond the physical limits – but worth it all the way!), but it was absolutely unforgettable, inspiring and just gives me that ‘extra push’ for the Olympics that Dragon Boating will soon be a competing sport and not a show sport.

At the Championships, Australia placed 6th overall, and I’m incredibly proud to share:

That my crew of 12 women, who were in the Small Boat, won
- 3 out of Australia’s 5 gold medals,
- including Australia’s first gold medal of the 2025 campaign, and
- every gold medal awarded in the Small Boat category for Australia!
Additionally, a secret little personal achievement was that out of the 74 girls on my team, I was one of the 12 to be chosen to be in our gold winning boat.
We are also officially the World Champions in the Small Boats’ Women’s U18s!! winning every race that my crew were in
In the U18 Small Boat 2K Women’s, we also broke a New World record!
I was also chosen as the Stroke for both our Mixed Crew and Small Boat Team – which was a huge surprise! Throughout our training, I was focused on teaching others how to stroke, rather than taking on the role myself, so you can imagine the shock (and pure anxiety!) when my coaches told me that I would be taking on one of the toughest, if not the toughest, positions in the boat! Being Stroke isn’t just about paddling. The Stroke is responsible for setting the pace, adjusting the rhythm, refining technique when the boat needs it, keeping everything in sync and being so connected with your partner/seat buddy in a way that you never find anywhere else. It’s a high-pressure role because if you make a mistake, the whole boat feels it!

Believe me, the pressure hit hard – I actually lost my paddle mid-race for the first time in my life, and it was the first race of the competition! I clipped a buoy, and the paddle was ripped clean out of my hands, (I have truly never screamed and cried so hysterically in my life). However, although it seemed like an eternity, within ten seconds, our Sweep tossed me the spare paddle … only for my best friend to lose that one while passing it up to me! … so I finished the race with a back seat paddle, one which was far too tall for me! However, the entire race I tried to keep my calm, keep in sync and connected with the other Stroke and fought like crazy to get that medal. In the end we triumphed over China, Germany and Ukraine!

Despite the chaos, stepping into the Stroke seat was one of the most empowering and unforgettable experiences of the campaign. It revealed the fierce strength and unity women from around the world share – on and off the racecourse. The bond I have with my Small Boat girls is lifelong, etched into every stroke we took together. Dragon Boating is unlike any other sport; it demands complete synchronicity, where every person matters and every heartbeat is shared. When adversity struck, we raced for women everywhere, to prove that we are more than enough. We paddled with fire, grace, and joy. Our two mottos were, ‘For women’ and ‘Kill them with success, and bury them with a smile’.

Our Results:

Gold – 2000m Women’s Small Boat (U18) – First place with an 18-second lead!
Gold – 200m Women’s Small Boat (U18)
Gold – 500m Women’s Small Boat (U18)
Bronze – 2000m Mixed Standard Boat
Bronze – 1000m Women’s Standard Boat – Third place in a nail-biting finish, just 0.05 seconds between 1st and 4th!

I couldn’t be prouder of our team and what we accomplished!

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Enjoy some of the exciting and memorable moments in the following videos

We are extremely proud of Isabella, who has pursued her dream with such dedication and continue to wish her all the very best for what her future holds! We look forward with anticipation to seeing where her Dragon Boating takes her. Congratulations Isabella!