Donn Niño Dacalanio

“I was always a lone wolf in the world of sports and never did any good on a team. I grew up with the mentality if I were on a team, I’d bring everyone down. After moving out of my homeland, the Philippines, I learned to run alone, hike alone, swim, cycle... alone. Until my boss, a dragonboater, asked me to try one weekend out. I always turned her down. For 4 months, every Friday she asked me to just try it. Finally, I wagered her not to ask me again if I paddled once. But don't you know it, it was love at first splash! That was 6 years ago. Now, I have found my community of paddlers. I feel a sense of belonging in these waters of Singapore, that this was my place all along. Before, I was a fish out of water, and now I’ve found a new family with common drive and passion.

I am usually a happy fellow. I am usually the cheerful one at 5am, greeting everyone in the happiest voice in the boat nursery. But it’s common for me to be overwhelmed by stress at work, life and love, in general. I feel everything can go downhill from there. One time, I was in a bad state of depression and shunned everyone. I couldn’t seem to bring my normal self back. I was over-eating, I felt like trash. 

My team looked for me. My team president was worried and looked for me at my home. The team tried everything to bring me back to training. "It will make you feel better," they said. So I came back for a morning session. It was a cool bit of sunrise on the southern coast of Singapore. After that session, I broke out crying on the beach. Everyone was behind me. They gave me a hug. In that moment, I knew I was not alone in this fight. At that point, I realised: I had never been alone. My new “family" was behind me. I wasn't afraid to take on life anymore.”

[Donn Niño Dacalanio (Singapore & Philippines), paddler on Singapore Paddle Club and Team KIDLATS.]

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