THE paddles rise up and knife down with the kind of precision that would do a drill sergeant proud.

Two rows of 10 paddle while in front, the drummer beats out a rhythm. In back, the helm steers.

Protruding from the front of the boat, a carved, brightly painted dragon head and neck leans forward, bulging-eyed as if stretching for the finish line.

As Nottingham dragon boat racing team Notts Anaconda glide their dragon boat through the water, they're part of a sport with thousands of years' tradition.

And as they prepare for the 2011 season, they can reflect on a successful 2010.

They were second in British dragon boat racing's second division, beat first division sides at open tournaments and saw paddlers get called into the UK dragon boat team.

They're looking for even more in 2011. Before that, they're going to get out and meet the people in their home city while celebrating the culture that begat dragon boat racing.

Anaconda paddlers will be taking part in this year's Chinese New Year celebrations in Nottingham.

They'll take the boat to celebrations at the Lakeside Centre on February 6 and answer questions about a sport that takes time to master.

"It does take a long time to get the hang of it," team member Ali Marsland said. "It takes years. You can't just get in the boat and be a good dragon boater."

It stands to reason that there are a few things to learn about dragon boat racing – the sport is more than 2,000 years old, after all.

Dragon boat folklore traces the sport's origins to second-century BC poet and minister Qu Yuan who, distraught at his banishment from court of the state of Chu and of Chu's subsequent demise, committed ritual suicide by throwing himself into the Miluo River.

According to legend, villagers tried and failed to save him. So they rowed into the river and, to keep fish and evil spirits from his body, banged drums and beat the water with their paddles.

That's the legend. The reality is a sport that draws thousands across China and the Far East – and that's gaining a growing popularity in the West. There's an annual international championship – Nottingham hosted the 1999 event.

And there are clubs and teams around the world.

In modern dragon boat racing, races cover distances of 200m or 500m. "It's not a sprint exactly," Ali says, "but you need to be able to keep up that intensity of effort."

A typical dragon boat weighs 250kg, sits 1.16m wide at the widest point and stretches to 12.49m long, not including the head and tail. Paddlers – never rowers – learn certain strokes for getting the boat moving from a standstill, and other strokes for once they've hit their stride. Sometimes for rookies, the technique can be counterintuitive.

"The boat will move forward quicker if you do slower, longer strokes," Ali said. In some ways, this is a sport of control. No frantic doggie paddles.

One paddler who figured all that out quickly is Steve Calver. Steve, 51, is working to qualify for the British team that travels to this year's world championships in Tampa, Florida.

That event will be in September – two years to the month after he first took up dragon boat racing. "I'd never done any water sports, paddle sports, nothing," he said.

"I'd spent 20 years playing hockey."

He met an Anaconda coach at the gym and went along to give it a try.

"It feels like a sport I should have been doing for 30 years," he said. "I literally just took to it like duck to water."

The team trains twice a week throughout the year. During the season they spend two days a week on the water. In the off-season, one of those days is devoted to strength training.

They need that much time together to master a sport that is all about precision, about a boatload of people moving as if they're thinking with the same brain.

"The ideal is that everybody is spot-on into the water at the same time and out of the water at the same time," said Ali.

And when that happens, it's a sight to see.

Notts Anaconda members will be at Lakeside from noon to 6.30pm on February 6 as part of Chinese New Year celebrations. They're holding an open day on March 20, although all training sessions are open to the public. They are based at Britannia Rowing Club on the Trent near the City Ground. For details, visit www.nottsanaconda.co.uk.