She now hopes to repeat the strong performance at the Australian Dragon Boat National Championships in Melbourne in April.

The Auroras won four medals and Australia won a total of 15 at the world championships.

Kirby said while it was her first world championships, paddlers from her club had previously attended the competition, which is held every two years.

"This year we had some great results," she said. "My team won a gold medal for the two-kilometre race, which was just awesome and we also won two silvers, for the one-kilometre and the 200-metres and a bronze for the 500-metres, so it was an excellent result.

"Racing is a lot of fun! I enjoy the sprints but the longer races require more strategic thinking.

"And there's a lot of argy-bargy on the corners which is always fun.

"They require more effort, so winning is really rewarding."

Kirby said dragon boating is an enjoyable sport which isn't quite like anything else. "I was hooked as soon as I tried it," she said. "It's an all-body work-out — it works your arms and your abs and your legs." She said that unlike with rowing, participants paddle forwards in a dragon boat.

"I've only been involved for the past three years but I've really enjoyed it," she said. "It's a great team sport to participate in. The sport has become significantly more popular in recent years. I hope it's included in the Olympics one day."

But it's not a sport without its challenges. "The hardest thing is getting 20 individuals to do the same thing at the same time," she said. "It's all about timing, that's the critical thing."

A dragon boat regatta will be held at Darling Harbour on February 4 in honour of Chinese New Year.

The Dragon Boats Association trains every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon at 6.30pm and every Sunday at 8.30am between September and April.

Details, membership: dsadragon.org or recruit@dsadragon.org.