Dragon boaters
 

Most guys probably have a different and more fantasy oriented vision
of a boatload of women on the water, but here's a story about an
interesting crew.....

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Easy is not their thing': Dragon boat racing attracts competitive
spirits
By TERRENCE PETTY
AP
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Dragon boat racer Carolyn Stewart grabs me by
the arm and yanks me over to a circle of her aquatic comrades, who are
standing on the bank of the Willamette River with life preservers on
their backs and paddles held upright in their hands.

On cue, the women shout in unison: "Old Ladies Rock!"

After spending an hour and a half on the water observing them train, I
am well prepared for the outburst.

They are Wasabi Power Surge, the nation's dragon boat champions for
women age 40 and up. The oldest among them is a spry 76.

Out on the water, paddlers in two boats had grunted and strained,
propelling the 400-pound fiberglass crafts swiftly over the water.
Their concentration was intense - focused on synchronizing strokes,
paddle technique and body position, and on the orders being barked by
coach Connie Flesuras.

"Chins up! Good form, ladies!" she yelled from her position on the
bow.

As they practiced quick sprints, the strokes of the two dozen paddlers
were so in sync and powerful that our boat felt like it was beginning
to lift off the river. "Easy, easy!" said the 54-year-old coach. She
turned to me and said, "Easy is not their thing."

Dragon boat racing, which began in China about 2,000 years ago, has
spread around the world, including American cities coast to coast. And
there may be no American city more zealous than Portland, which has
more than 100 teams.

The high point of the year is June, when races are staged during the
city's Rose Festival. They began in 1989 with help from China and
Portland's Chinese sister city, Kaohsiung.

Thomas Crowder, who competes for a team called the Golden Dragons, is
president of the Portland-Kaohsiung Sister City Association and
director of the Rose Festival races.

"My wife got me started (as a paddler) about 10 years ago," says the
66-year-old retired college administrator.

Asian dragon boat traditions are honored during the Rose Festival. "We
have a formal Buddhist ceremony. The Buddhists go down to the docks
and bless the boats," he says.

Boats competing during the Rose Festival are Taiwanese-style, with
large, brightly painted dragon's heads and tails, and weigh more than
half a ton. Drummers sit in the bow, pounding out a beat that sets the
paddlers' cadence. It's not enough to cross the finish line first: The
drummer in the winning boat also has to lean out on the dragon's nose
and pluck a flag from a buoy.

Team Wasabi Power Surge races in Hong Kong-style boats, which are
narrower and lighter than the Taiwanese-style boats. With these craft,
used in national and international races, it's all about speed. A
drummer and small, removable heads and tails are added to the boats
for races.

The women of Wasabi Power Surge, who train year-round, have qualified
to race in the world championships this September in Sydney,
Australia.

"There are a lot of Type A women in this sport," says Stewart, who has
been paddling for 11 years.

In Portland, dragon boat racing has become popular among breast cancer
survivors, who find it a good way to rebuild strength. They include
Stewart and Gwen Foley, the 76-year-old.

"There's a group of us that's been together for awhile. Our motto is,
`I believe in you, you believe in me,"' says Stewart.

According to the International Dragon Boat Federation, there are about
50 million dragon boat paddlers in China, more than 300,000 in Europe,
about 90,000 in North America, and thousands more in Australia and New
Zealand. The federation was founded in 1991, after international races
held in Hong Kong to promote the city in the 1970s created a huge
following.

It's teamwork, not individual heroics, that wins dragon boat races.

But there's also fun out on the river.

On this spring night, in the middle of training, Coach Connie has the
two boats come to a stop. She announces it's Carol Shauger's birthday.
She's 57. Time to sing "Happy Birthday." But this is the Wasabi Power
Surge's version - with everyone singing totally off key, and at the
top of their lungs. The noise echoes across the river, heading into
downtown.

Pleased with her paddlers' horrible singing, Coach says it's time to
resume training sprints: "OK, let's do it again."

Without missing a beat, the paddlers sing "Happy Birthday" all over
again, again off-key.

"I should have expected that," says their coach.

On te Web:

International Dragon Boat Federation: http://www.idbf.org/

Dragon Sports USA: http://www.dragonsports.org/

Wasabi Paddling Club: http://www.wasabiusa.org/