It's a fast and furious sport with an ancient past and a growing legion of devoted fans. But when 16-year-old Jun Lee tells people he races dragon boats, he's almost always met with confusion. "Usually it's something like, what is a dragon boat?" the Canberra schoolboy said. "It's a pretty niche sport at the end of the day, so not many people know about it." Dragon boating originated in China more than 2,000 years ago. The modern version of the sport sees teams of 20 paddlers — plus a drummer and a steerer — race distances up to two kilometres. "I think it is one of the most high-stress environments I'm in," Lee said. 300 Aussies headed to Germany The sport's popularity is on the rise, with competitive and social clubs popping up around the country. More than 300 of Australia's best paddlers have travelled to Germany to compete in next week's World Dragon Boat Racing Championships. The national team, called the Auroras, is made up of teens to retirees competing in different divisions, who have been preparing intensely for the past 22 weeks. That includes 32 Canberra-based paddlers, who have been braving sub-zero temperatures to train on Lake Burley Griffin almost every day. Once a rugby league and union player, Sam Thompson started dragon boating a decade ago and now captains Australia's Senior B team. "It took me a few years to admit to people that I was a dragon boater, but I'm very proud now," Thompson said. More than 4,000 paddlers from 34 countries will compete in the world championships. "It's going to be an extremely tough competition — if we get to the podium, that'll be unreal," Thompson said. '20 people to make friends with' While dragon boating can struggle to attract younger participants, Ashleigh Wright first picked up a paddle when she was just 12. "Mum found an ad on Facebook for it and you could do it with your parents so she thought it would be a cute thing for us to do together," she said. The now-18-year-old has not looked back since, and is proud to be pulling on the green and gold for the first time. "I love the community in dragon boating," Wright said. This month's championships will also mark the inaugural appearance of Australia's paradragon team. Among the paddlers is former paralympic cyclist Lindy Hou, who is blind. The gold medallist swapped the bike for the boat to stay fit in retirement. "Once I learnt how to hold a paddle and the movement, I just have to keep time with everybody," Hou said. The world championships begin in Germany on July 14.