Dragon Boat Racing - Race Day

Sunday found us rising bright and early once again – our first race of the day was at 9:30 am and our team needed to be onsite at 8:30 am. In addition, the races themselves were taking place on a totally different part of the Charles than where we had practiced and had our time trials, so I wanted to get to the race site early enough to figure out where it was located and to find parking.

Swinging by Dunkin’ Donuts and Brookline to pick up Phu, we still made it on time and were able to find parking on the street that runs by the Harvard football stadium (aka Coliseum) on the Allston side. This put us in short walking distance of the Boston side of the Weeks Footbridge, where all the Dragon Boat teams were setting up tent. On the opposite side of the river – starting at the intersection of DeWolfe and Cowperwaithe and running along a stretch of Memorial Drive – the Dragon Boat festival would start at Noon, featuring Asian food booths and dance demonstrations. This ended up working out well, because it gave us a great place to wander through while waiting for our races to start.

As for the races themselves, they ran like clockwork starting at 8:30 a.m. I must say that I was very impressed by how well the Boston Dragon Boat Festival organizers ran race day. They had all teams ready and lined up around 20 minutes before start times, kept track of which life vests and which paddles from boats coming off the water would be handed to teams heading into the water and kept the races moving on schedule. This was all in addition to keep tracking of who was winning the races and scheduling teams into the semi-final and final races.



My team came in second place in our first race, which was actually a morale booster. It was really close in the end, and we would’ve ended up in third if our drummer hadn’t goaded us into paddling faster. Our team finally felt like things were beginning to click into place and we could feel real momentum with the boat as we used our new start strategy and focused intently on paddling in sync. And, it was a rush to be competing on the river while having bystanders watch us from the shore and on the bridge we raced under. It also didn’t hurt to have Andrew and my teammates’ friends and family cheering us on.

With three hours to kill before our next race, most of the team took advantage of the warm weather to veg out on the grass by our tent. As you’ll see in my next post, I ended up wandering around Harvard Square before returning to the company tent to sun my blindingly-white legs. Rest assured, I was applying copious amounts of sunscreen to my face and legs due to the fact that I had gotten slightly burned the day before during the time trials. My arms were safely covered by team’s long sleeved shirts.

With a lunchtime race, the team decided it would be better to race on empty stomachs and we headed to the docks for our second race. Another thing that was different about the races compared to our time trials was that all teams needed to paddle out to the start line (I believe it was described as 500 meters). The finish line was located right next to the docks, which allowed everyone on shore to witness some exciting finishes.

Andrew, Amy, Jen and Pete found a nice shady spot along the river to watch our second race and it was a nice boost of energy to hear them cheering for us as we paddled by on our way to the bridge. For some reason, this race had us competing against just one other team. We gave it all and despite a close finish, we ended up winning!



Victorious, we returned to the tent to find three different types of boxed Chinese food waiting for us. Andrew had the beef and broccoli and I went with some sort of chicken and veggie dish in a clear sauce, both accompanied with tons of white rice which is the perfect meal in my book!



I also tried a traditional Chinese treat, I forget what it’s called but this is what it looks like on the outside:


On the inside, there was sticky rice, pork and beans.


It sounds like the type of combo that I would like but I ended up passing most of it to Phu, who told me it reminded him of the times his grandmother would make it for him.

Fortified with food, we lounged lazily in the sun for another couple of hours before the final race. I have a feeling it was these last couple of hours that really did the team in, as we were all feeling tired and sluggish from the heat and from waiting around.

Going into the final race, we were up against the same team we had beat in the second race and a new team. We had a little bit of a wait on the water, when we paddled out and found that the boats in the race before us were dawdling and hadn’t left yet. Once we lined up, my team and the team to our left were told that we were too far out to the left side of the river and needed to move towards the right lane. So organizing us took a few more minutes.

Once the race started, I was totally in paddle mode. I don’t even look up at my surroundings or the other boats, I tend to focus just on the front paddler to ensure I’m in rhythm with her. This race ended up being a fairly even match between all three teams but I didn’t realize until the end that there was a little controversy involved. There was clearly no chance we were going to win, but the winning team to our left ended up veering into our lane at the end, which caused us to change our trajectory and veer into the lane to our right. We ended up third, but as I mentioned, all three times were within seconds of each other. The majority of my team was very frustrated with the result but to be honest, I was relieved. This meant that we were done with racing and my tired butt was ready to grab some fro-yo and go home. Just an FYI, our team captain did try to protest the race results but we were told that we protested too late, you’re supposed to do it while you’re on the boat and in the water still. Again, to be fair, Andrew said it was clear that there was no way we would’ve won the race so I’m sure the best team won.

Overall, I can’t tell you what a positive experience Dragon Boat racing was. I had a great time getting to know coworkers I hadn’t met before, and it was great to be surrounded with positive, enthusiastic people. Dragon Boating itself didn’t require any previous boating experience and wasn’t too strenuous. Plus, it had a very reasonable time commitment, three evening practices for an hour and a weekend for the time trials and races. The Dragon Boat Festival itself was a lot of fun and a perfect family event. And, I couldn’t have it done it without the support of Andrew, who woke up early both days with me and hung around all day – which at times was very hot and very boring.

Dragon Boat Racing - Time Trials

After a pasta dinner and going to bed at a relatively early time, Andrew and I were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on Saturday morning, despite waking up early on a weekend day. Knowing that I had to be onsite by 9:45 am to meet with the rest of my team, we wanted to leave the house by 8 am to allow time to pick up Phu and find a parking space while having Andrew’s parents follow us to the MIT boathouse.

I was incredibly nervous all morning because it was competition time and I was afraid of letting my team down despite feeling pretty confident in my paddling form. So much so that it was a struggle to force down breakfast, which anyone who knows me will tell you, nothing usually gets in the way of my appetite!

After a brief struggle to find parking and a concern over having enough quarters to feed my meter (I had used up all my quarters on tolls and meters from attending previous practices), we made it on time to greet the rest of my company team. I brought along a dozen of my banana chocolate chip muffins which were surprisingly well-received by the group as I had assumed that most people would’ve eaten before arrive at the time trials.

As expected, the Boston Dragon Boat organization was very strict in checking that all team members had attended at least three practices (they had maintained a checklist in which we all had to sign in with for each practice attended) and were checking our ID’s against the photocopies on our original registration forms. Once you passed muster, you were given one of those strangely durable paper/plastic wristbands as proof that you were allowed to compete. We had our first hiccup of the morning at this point, as a few team members didn’t have their ID’s with them and had just a short amount of time to run to their cars (which could literally be a mile away) and return.


After loading on the dock (having our wristbands checked once again) with the two other teams, we had another scare when we realized we only had 14 members present for the team – a full racing team is usually 18 people and I was told that we could go as low as 15 members only with approval from the Boston Dragon Boat organization. Luckily, two team members returned with ID’s in time and two more showed up literally as we were starting to load the boat.



And as the for time trials themselves – they consisted of two heats with three boats competing in each. The premise is that you’re not really competing against the other boats but just trying to get a fast time for your own boat. You do one race, paddle back to the start line and stay on the boat and then complete another race. The average of the two times is taken and used to determine which bracket you’re placed into on Sunday, the actual day of racing.

This my team at the start of the race, paddles in water, ready to go:


And we're off!


The roughly three minutes of paddling goes by quickly:


Although at times, it feels like forever!


So I’ll admit it – my team stunk during our time trials. We were slow out of the gate, out of synchronization and not paddling correctly, which means we ended up far behind the two other teams in both heats. After a painfully honest team meeting afterwards where we all proposed theories on why weren’t doing well and what needed to be corrected, my team felt a renewed sense of optimism for Sunday since we were going to try a brand new start (combination of fast and slow strokes to get your boat launched at the start of the race).

Overall, I couldn’t complain. It was the start of a beautiful day with truly glorious New England summer weather, I had my own cheering section in the form of Andrew and his parents and I had just successfully completed two full dragon boat races on the Charles.



Needless to say, I felt pumped! The only thing I had to worry about was keeping my wristband intact for the races the next day.



Which means, in my case, I showered with it on and in Phu’s case, he simply didn’t shower:



Photos courtesy of Tom S. and Andrew S.

Final Dragon Boat Practice

Tonight’s practice was our smoothest ever, which is a huge relief since it was our last practice before our time trials on Saturday and the actual races on Sunday.

I made sure to leave work at 4:55 pm, which gave me plenty of time to get stuck in traffic outside my office, on the Mass Pike ramp, off the Mass Pike ramp, on Memorial Drive in Cambridge, finally find a parking spot on Mass Ave., amidst the craziness of an MIT Reunion weekend.

Around two thirds of my team was present, and we ended up acquiring some a few people from the Verizon and SunLife corporate teams who needed to squeeze in a few extra practices. Perhaps it was corporate espionage to see how well we preformed but I think it reflected the nature of the Dragon Boat festival – everyone is cheerful and eager to help one another out.

I’d been lucky enough to have the same row in the front of the boat and the same partner for my first three practices, which is extremely rare since most of the boat gets shifted around to balance the weight. However, my usual partner had skipped this practice so I got paired with one of the “randoms” from another team. Which was fine, except for the fact that she was very vocal in expressing her opinion and in pointing out differences between our team’s paddling and her teams. This ended up being a blessing at the end of practice. Judging from how silent she was, I knew that we had gone from being a boat that she had regretted joining to a team that had delivered a good workout.

We nailed our start, had survived two, three-minute long race simulations and had successfully completed a bunch of “power 20” strokes.

Hopefully, this puts us in good shape for the time trials on Saturday. I honestly have no clue how much better or worse we are in comparison to most teams. We’ll have two time trials, which will have us racing against two other teams, to result in one combined time that determines our bracket for the actual races on Sunday. As the weather is supposed to be nice and in the 70’s this weekend, I’m actually looking forward to it!

Finding My Zen

My third Dragon Boat practice ended up being slightly better than my second practice, despite my rocky start.

For some reason, the traffic was insane today. Although I always have the best intentions about leaving work early, I always end up making it out at the door around 5:10 pm. Which has gotten me to Cambridge in the nick of time for practice the first two times (the parking situation on Memorial Drive adds an extra ten minutes to getting to practice). So I ended up getting to practice late today and the boat had already launched! From the first two practices, I knew they made an effort to get late people onto the boats, because a guy from my team had been speed-boated out to our dragon boat during the first practice and then the same guy's second late arrival had caused our dragon boat to be brought back to the dock after launching.

So today, I was the idiot that cause the boat to come back to dock a minute after it had already launched. It wasn't like the boat was far away but it did suck to face all my coworkers and Phu late, especially since I was determined to make a better paddling impression this time. The good news is that another guy showed up late right behind me, so having the boat pull up helped the team get both of us on.

The rest of practice went pretty well - I wasn't singled out for doing anything wrong by our Boston Dragon Boat Festival coach and I found a good rhythm while paddling, although the girls behind me didn't seem to have a clue. And getting splashed by dirty Charles water actually felt refreshing today with the good weather.

Now, I'm debating whether I should attend the optional fourth practice on Thursday to refine my meager paddling skills. I'm also wondering when we get our team t-shirts!

Whale Tale of a Time

Well, my second Dragon Boat practice was definitely worst than the first, due to a misfortunate choice of pants, a full boat, a new drill we practiced.

First off. I should’ve realize how bad it was going to be merely by the fact that I was sorely tempted to skip this practice. I had already gotten up at 4:30 am to drop my parents off at Logan airport and was tired from returning to work after a four day weekend to a brand new location, which involved hassles like my ID not working and unpacking. The only reason I ended up going to practice was that we’re required to attend three team practices in order to participate in the actual race. My company had scheduled four practices total, and if I had skipped tonight’s practice, then I would’ve been automatically forced to attend the last two practices. And since the weather was relatively nice tonight, I didn’t want to risk the chance that one or both of the last two practices would have rainy weather. Dragon boat practices are only cancelled due to thunder and lightening, not just rain.

Parking at the MIT Pierce boathouse is a pain in the butt, so I’ve learned just to suck it up and park on Mass Ave., which requires a brisk, ten minute walk to make it in time to practice at 6 pm. It was during this walk that I realized the jeans I had changed into at the end of the day were too loose and required a belt. As my fleece covered my waistline, I figured I was safe and made a mental note to wear better pants to the next practice.

Upon arriving at the dock, I realized that we had our full team contingent of 18 people (the boat holds 22 overall). This meant extra rows of people in the boat, which also mean that instead of Phu sitting directly behind me, I now had a row of strange male coworkers.

Things only got worse once we started paddling. Dragon boat racing has you only grasping one oar in an exaggerated stretching motion – to do it correctly, you need to be at the edge of your seat, twisted and extending the oar in a digging motion that is perpendicular to the water. This meant every time I paddled, I was leaning forward, which caused my pants to droop down slightly and my fleece to rise up, revealing a “whale tale.” Even more embarrassing, is the fact that if you don’t lean forward enough, the person behind you ends up smacking their oar into you. So on top of the fact that I was flashing the whole boat (As a member of Row 3, I had five full rows of two people and a steersman behind me), one of the guys behind me had to tap me on the shoulder and tell me I need to lean forward more so the guy behind me wouldn’t hit me.

Then, our coach from the Boston Dragon Boat Festival Committee decided to try a new drill that had us closing our eyes and paddling. I was already feeling off key due to my embarrassment over my pants, and sure enough, I felt my paddle hit the paddle in front of me, and then the one behind me. Swearing and apologizing at the same time, I was mortified to hear a chain reaction of paddles hitting paddles due to my fumble! Although everyone was nice on my team, I’m sure I have the rep of being the incompetent girl on the boat. And my small hope that no one else noticed my underwear creeping up was dashed by Phu’s statement that he could see it, which he verified by giving the color. Yikes! Next week, I’m wearing proper athletic clothing, even if I’m coming straight from work and I’ll be the best damned paddler out there!

Here's a rather bad picture of how soaked my clothing and Phu's clothing was after practice - "love that dirty water - Boston, you're my home!"

Dragon Boat Racing

I'll admit it, I had never heard of Dragon Boat racing up to a month ago. But when I saw the announcement in our employee newsletter soliciting participants for Boston's Dragon Boat Festival, I was tempted to sign up immediately. You didn't need any experience, all costs were covered by my company and it seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. So once I convinced Andrew (who had to drop out once we realized the practices were at 6 pm, which would be impossible for him to make) and Phu to join me, it was a no-brainer to sign up!

Which brings me to today, the first practice for my company's Dragon Boat racing team.

Although it was a pain in the butt to find parking near MIT's Pierce Boathouse, it was so worth it to step onto the dock and see our boat waiting for us:



Once equipped with our paddles, Phu and I were ready to go:




We formed lines based on our seating in the boat and received directions from the Dock Staff Volunteer. We learned the proper way to hold the paddle and commands such as:

• Hold Water - Paddlers should stick their paddles in the water to slow/stop the boat.
• Ready Position/Paddles Up - Paddles above the water, reaching forward.
• Go/Take it away - Command to start paddling
• Way enough/Let it run - Stop paddling and let the boat coast to a stop.
• Starting position/Ready, Ready - command in a start situation for paddles to be placed in position for the first stroke (usually completely submerged in the water)

Here's some other teams who had their practices the same time we did:

I can't tell you how amazing it was to be out on the water and to realize that we were actually moving a boat around the Charles. Although I ended up looking at the paddle in front of me for most of the time (the proper way to keep up with their Strokers and their timing), I did get some beautiful views of Boston like the one below:

And I'm happy to report that although the Charles looks dark, the water seemed clean - at least I hope it is, since we all got splashed with it.

I'm super excited about doing this, and as our last two mandatory practices are two weeks away, I'm hoping I don't forget everything I learned today. I think my team has a good chance of winning some races if we continue on doing as well as we did in practice today!