Ireland's competing at the World Dragon Boat Racing Championships for the first time.

The two-thousand-year-old Chinese sport sees teams compete in forty-foot paddling boats decorated with dragon detailing. Each vessel is carved with a dragon’s head at the bow and a tail in the stern.

The sport has become popular here, with 19 clubs across the country.

Tara Byrne is one of twelve Irish athletes heading to the contest in Germany next week, and she joined Valerie on the iScore podcast.