That's the Kindred
Spirits Dragonboat Racing Team in a dragonboat in Lane 1 (foreground)
at the midpoint in a race at the International Dragonboat Festival
held annually at the Toronto Islands. Want to see how we made out
in that race? Click here
or on the picture.
We do multiple
race festivals in a season, usually 3 or 4 in the spring and 1 or
2 in the fall. Most festivals are one day - always Saturdays - and
some are weekend affairs.
In a festival,
there are typically 3 or 4 actual races. About 45 min. before race
time, teams need to show up at the marshaling area to get ready
to load into their boat.
Kindred Spirits
don't just wander to the marshaling area.
WE MAKE AN ENTRANCE!
We then paddle
out to the starting line and wait for the starter's gun. Most
races are 500 meters long and last about 2 min 25 sec or so (wind
affects times). About 50 meters from the finish line you'll think
it's the longest 500 meters and 2 min 20secs of your life! But what
a feeling when you cross the line, especially if we finish in the
medals.
In a festival,
the 1st couple of races are for positioning your team in a finals
division. The better the time in these qualifiers, the higher up
- and more competitive - your final race. Final races then are always
the most closely contested since all 4 to 6 teams in that final
race have qualifier times pretty much the same give or take a few
seconds.
How close can
races be? I you haven't looked already, check
out a final race we had in Toronto - we won by 5/100ths of a
second after 2 min, 27 sec of all out paddling!
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2.
How many people on a team?
For a race there
are 20 paddlers, a drummer and the steersman so 22 people in total
on board.
For the team
however, the ideal team size is 28 people or so since there are
always situations where a few can't make it to a race.
We enter "mixed"
teams races. This requires that at least 8 paddlers are women and/or
8 paddlers are men. Typical in our history has been 10 women and
10 men as paddlers for our races, but that can vary from year to
year depending on our membership.
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3.
What does it cost?
The Kinsmen
Club of Bolton sponsors the team and subsidizes costs such as for
T-shirts and paddles . However, individual fees pay the bulk of
the team's race and practice costs.
Early in the
year, we plan for practices and register for various spring festivals
and tally the costs. These costs are divided by the number of teammates
and each teammate pays the same.
The fee varies
somewhat but usually come out to around $200 - give or take - for
the spring season. That pays for typically 12 practice sessions
(with boat rentals) and 4 festivals for 14 or so
races.
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4.
What is the age range?
We look for
members to be over 19 years of age.
On the team,
we have members in their 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's and some "north"
of that. Don't disparage the oldsters! One of them is also on the
National Masters Team, a World Championship winner!
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5.
Do I need to be a super athlete to participate?
Most of us are
pretty average when it comes to that and yet we do well in competitions.
Like many sports, dragonboat racing is a lot about techniques and
a desire to win.
We work in our
practice sessions to get the most out of every stroke and be sure
it is done in a manner that minimizes the chance of pain and strain.
Remember that
the way dragonboats festival are done with initial qualifying races,
we end up competing in the finals with teams that are comparable
to our own capabilities. We are typically older than teams we compete
with yet we more often then not beat the pants off them!
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6.
What is the time commitment?
We start practices
in early March sitting at the side of a pool, using full or cut
down paddles.
Pool practice
lets us coach new paddlers to develop the right technique (once
we're into the boats, it is difficult to give individual attention).
For veterans, pool practice is a great time to get back into shape
and work on our technique.
In the last
week of April, we start with boat practice inside the break wall
in Lake Ontario at Sunnyside Pool (off Lakeshore Blvd in Toronto).
Most of us carpool from the Albion-Bolton Community Centre.
Practices are
Monday nights. Pool practice is normally at the Mayfield Community
Centre (on Bramalea Dr. just north of Mayfield Rd.) Pool practice
lasts for 1 hour and typically starts at 9:00PM, earlier if we can
get it.
Boat practice
is also on Monday nights and we normally book the 7:00PM time slot,
car-poolers leaving the Community Centre at 6:00PM and returning
by about 9:00PM.
Most Dragonboat
Festivals are all day affairs on Saturdays. Since these are in places
like Milton, Hamilton, Stratford and other remote communities, we
often leave in a carpool the Albion-Bolton Community Centre at as
early as 6:00AM.
2-day festivals
like the one at Toronto Islands have the same Saturday schedule
as above followed by a full day on Sunday for finals races.
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7.
What equipment will I need?
Nothing special
is required for this sport. The club has its own paddles and all
other gear is supplied by festival organizers. Most people bring
their own life jackets (the ones provided by race organizers get
wet & smelly over the course of a festival!)
Early season,
on-water boat practices (starting last week April) can be cool (we
have had years where we had snow flurries!) and paddlers always
get wet so wearing bathing suits, wet gear and having a change of
clothes is a great idea.
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8.
What else does the team do?
