I was part of a team in a Dragon Boat Race.

I didn't sign myself up for dragon boating, I had never even heard of it before my name had been written into attending the race, but I did find it odd I was invited to a practice session as well. A calendar invite had chirped my inbox with the invitation and zero warning from the person who sent it.  Wait, I'm actually in the boat and racing?!

Our team winning the heat.

The team I was signed up for had some experienced members, but most of us were there for a charity. Upon finding out that I was to be a participant and not just a fan, it required me to think about how cold this lake water would be at the end of September and that I'm not a strong swimmer. 

Dragon boat racing is a water sport that began in China. Teams paddle in long, beautifully decorated boats that have a carved dragon head and a tail. The boats each have a crew that sit 2 wide down the length of the boat and provide the power and some steering.  To coordinate the paddlers, there is a drummer at the front facing toward the rear to see the paddlers and sets the rhythm to paddle. In the rear is a guide controlling the direction of the boat.

A quick reference from Wikipedia about its origins: "The sport of dragon boat racing has its roots in an ancient folk ritual of contending villagers, which dates back 2000 years throughout southern China, and even further to the original games of Olympia in ancient Greece."

At the practice session, I was pretty scared to be honest. The boats are very thin, wobbly and the water was cold. My ability to stay dry was not solely dependent on what I did right or wrong, but as a team, each person getting into the boat, out of the boat, or leaning too far over during any part of a race could send us all to the briny deep. We were in a fresh water harbor but it may as well have been the ocean.

We learned how to keep pace with the drums, steer, and follow the commands from the drummer. Working together, and all paddling in unison. The problem that can happen is when someone is off-beat, their paddle is in the water while the rest have pushed through lunging the boat forward, and this lone paddle will slow us down and cause the boat to lean and go off-course. Syncing up was critical. Each time someone leaned or moved, the boat rocked—and I swear I was going over the side.

Race day comes and we suit up, there's a theme for each boat and so people were dressed up although we did have a team shirt. We board the boat and slowly remember what we had learned a week earlier while we navigated to the queue at the starting line. There were multiple races for each team as the bracket slowly filled in and teams were eliminated or awarded the next position.

When it was our turn, we lined up next to another team for a local business, and waited for the air horn.  The races only last a little over a minute, but the team worked well and we paddled really well. One thing that was different than practice is people concentrating on speed and technique, would over-reach with their paddle and click against mine. It's not just timing but positioning as well as each click of the paddles together slowed me down, was it me? did the person just have longer arms? I needed to make adjustments for the next race to try and prevent this from happening but remember that each person should be following the lead of the person in front of them.

Overall we placed 8th out of 13 but raised quite a bit of money for the charity event. I would NEVER have chosen this as an activity for myself but sometimes you just have to go for it. It wasn't the event itself or the effort involved or time, all were perfectly acceptable to me for a good cause. The real struggle for me during the race was trusting the rest of the team members to not tip the boat over, plunging me into the abyss. At the end of the practice I was exhausted from being on alert for 2 hours, and the race started off the same - but at some point I had to accept it was out of my control and I was there for one purpose - paddling. Once I overcame that block, it allowed me to focus on the task at hand. Looking back, I can see that overcoming that block allowed me to perform better.

It was a test of my ability to let go of control in certain moments. While not critical in the grand scheme of things, I still had to make a choice. I was going to be a team player, and realize no one else wanted to get dunked either; we were all working toward our goals of paddling to the best of our ability.

I'll pass on this event next year, it's not for me but at least I know that for sure now.