Local dragon boat teams dig in for their next competition in waters overseas

Angela Long, head coach of Nathan Benderson Park’s dragon boat program, is standing on a motorboat in the middle of the park’s big lake.

“Paddles up,” she shouts. Immediately, 20 men and women on a long, skinny boat lean forward and lift their paddles in the air as though they’re about to spear a sea monster.

“Go!”

The blades plunge and catch the water, and the boat rises and jumps forward, propelled by 20 paddles entering and exiting the water at the exact same moment. A steerer in the stern sets the course and a drummer sitting at the bow sets the pace. The boat glides across the water until Long shouts, “Let it run!” All 20 paddlers lift their paddles out of the water. The synchrony is euphoric.

I know this feeling because sometimes I’m in one of those boats. When I come home from a practice, endorphins still pumping, I gush nonstop about the coach, the paddlers, the training, the physical sensation of many people becoming one organism. “Sounds like a centipede,” said one friend, when I urged her to give it a try. Not exactly the image I was going for, but I stopped bugging her.

At every practice, I learn and improve. I escape into a state of complete focus. All distractions and worries of the world recede. The only thing that matters is what the person in front of me is doing.

In dragon boating paddlers — 10 in a small boat or 20 in the standard boat — face forward in two rows, each person holding a single paddle and stroking on one side.

Psychological studies have shown that the experience of being in sync creates a sense of well-being, according to a report in Scientific American. Think line dancing, choir practice, marching bands — the act of practicing together in large groups builds strong bonds and trust, say scientists, perhaps an evolutionary trait that contributed to our survival. All I know is that dragon boating feels good.

My son has heard me talk about this so many times, he thinks I’ve joined a cult.

Coach Long laughs when I tell her that. “A cult? We kind of behave like that. It’s so addictive. It becomes a way of life. I tell people it’s a party in a boat. You get people together. We work hard, play hard and we do it all in sync. When you join the team, you have 20 instant best friends.”

Dragon boat racing should not be confused with rowing where rowers sit single file, face backwards and stroke with oars. In dragon boating paddlers — 10 in a small boat or 20 in the standard boat — face forward in two rows, each person holding a single paddle and stroking on one side.

The sport dates to the 5th or 6th century A.D. in China. But boats decorated with dragon heads, tails and scales date back more than 6,000 years. The Chinese put the dragon, a mythical creature controlling the weather, rain and seas, on boats to ensure a good rice harvest; other historians say dragon boats were used in military exercises that eventually became a spectator sport. Whatever its origins, dragon boat festivals were concentrated in China for centuries until 1976 when Hong Kong launched the first ever international dragon boat festival.

Since then, the sport has spread around the world. One of the sport’s governing bodies, the International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF), now counts 75 countries as members, and many sources estimate about 50 million participants worldwide.

Duneska Grant, 53, who moved to the U.S. 25 years ago from Colombia, has been involved in sports and exercise her whole life. About a year and a half ago, a workout friend told her about dragon boating.

“I’d never heard of it. I wasn’t into competing or racing,” she says. “I just like to be active, so I finally tried it and fell in love with it.”

Now Grant, who owns the residential real estate company, The K Company Realty, is one of the top paddlers in the club, qualifying for Team USA in Thailand in 2023, where she and her teammates won two silver and two gold medals. She’s now headed to the world championship in Ravenna, Italy, this September where she will be competing in the 50-plus age division in the 200-, 500- and 2,000-meter races for both the women’s 20-seat boat and the mixed men and women’s 20-seat boat.

Grant trains at least seven times a week, sometimes heading to Nathan Benderson Park twice a day to get in her workouts. She also has a personal trainer. “It’s discipline and time in the water,” she says. “There is no replacement for training.”

Training isn’t the only motivation, though. “I don’t know a lot of sports that people our age do in a team environment,” she says. “We have people on the team more than 80 years old. They are an inspiration.”

Nathan Benderson Park’s dragon boat program, officially called NBP Paddling, started in 2013 as a breast cancer survivor team, Survivors in Sync (SIS). At the time, park leaders wanted to expand the venue’s offerings and reputation — it had already earned an international reputation in rowing — by hosting an international breast cancer dragon boat festival. They wanted a local team. Long, now 55, who had earned a respected reputation working with cancer survivors through local nonprofits in the last decade, was persuaded to come onboard to launch the team and ended up the coach. She had no experience with the sport or coaching but, diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 34, knew what it took to survive and had the passion to support other women going through the same life-changing event. By 2021, largely due to Long’s leadership, coaching style and emphasis on technical skills, the club expanded to include the Warriors (a team of all cancer survivors), a veteran’s team, other men’s and women’s competitive teams, as well as the Survivors in Sync team.

NBP Paddling now has 150 members. While that might sound small, it’s not. The program is the second largest in the country, just behind Philadelphia’s team, the oldest in the country. It’s also considered one of the most competitive clubs in America, consistently winning top medals in national and international competitions. “It happened quickly,” says Long. “We shocked some local teams.”

Gina Toynton, 49, a social worker in the Manatee County school system, went to her first dragon boat practice less than two months after a bilateral mastectomy for breast cancer. She had decided while waiting for her diagnosis that she would not adopt a “Why me?” posture. A friend told her about a dragon boat’s breast cancer team called Survivors in Sync. “My surgery was in November 2022, and as soon as I got the all-clear to move my body, I started paddling,” she says.

The first time out, she sobbed: “You have a different body, different parameters of movement.” But she had a goal. “I was putting my energy into forward momentum. I wanted to compete from the get-go, so I was willing to do everything to make sure I’d succeed.”

Toynton progressed rapidly, and only six months later had times fast enough to qualify for the U.S. Club Crew National Championships held in July 2023 at Nathan Benderson Park. At the nationals, she qualified for the Ravenna world race this September. She will be racing in the Survivors in Sync 20-person boat and the Warriors’ 10-person boat.

Dragon boating is a beautiful sport, she says. “When you’re in sync, it’s an amazing thing to see. For any breast cancer survivor out there, you can come here and have your experience be normalized, a place to channel energy in a positive way. We’ll show you you’re powerful again. We have women who paddle while they’re still in chemo. They’re beasts!”

This September, 73 NBP athletes are headed to Ravenna, Italy, to compete at the big biennial International Dragon Boat Federation’s Club Crew World Championship. That almost half the team has qualified in time trials makes NBP Paddlers an exceptional group in the world of dragon boat racing. In fact, about 120 members of the team are on a competitive track and vie for spots on racing boats. For someone like me, who is content to remain a recreational paddler, just happy to be in nature on a boat and to get my heart rate up while I try to improve my technique, these competitive teammates — who occasionally train on the same beginners’ boat to embed the basics and precision of the stroke — are intimidating. I’m assured by NBP’s multimedal winner, 62-year-old Beth Turconi, that I am welcome, even if I haven’t been to practice for a month. “We’ve got every level of paddler,” she says. “When you’re ready to come back, there’s a seat on the boat for you. You don’t have to be super competitive.”

Jerry Marshbanks, 54, loves the water. He spent 31 years in active duty as a physician assistant with the U.S. Coast Guard, deployed on ships to Antarctica and all over the world before retiring to Florida in 2022. While stationed in Puerto Rico, he competed in standup paddleboard. Water sports became a family pastime. His wife, Stephanie, competed in outrigger canoe competitions; his daughter was a highly competitive standup paddleboarder.

So, when the couple decided to move, they wanted to find a place close to a body of water. They eventually moved to Parrish in Manatee County for his new job as a physician assistant for a family medicine practice. It was far from the wide-open oceans he was used to. “SUP is open ocean and the Gulf is calm. I lost my water community,” he says. Then Stephanie found NBP Paddling. They both joined.

“I thought I was in good shape,” says Marshbanks, who is a muscular 6’ 4”. “But I showed up for my first three or four practices, and I was amazed that 70-year-olds were beating the pants off me.”

In four months, Marshbanks qualified to be an alternate in the U.S. Club Crew National Championships held in July 2023 at Nathan Benderson Park, and then qualified for the Ravenna worlds this September. “I’m on a Senior Mixed B, five men and five women, 50 years and older,” he says. His wife, also a top paddler, will be competing in Ravenna as well.

“You catch the fever once you’re in your first race,” he says. “It’s not 10 or 20 individuals. We’re one person, everyone going together, feeding each other. It’s magical.”

At 66, I fit the demographics if not the competitive drive. Most NBP members are in their 50s, 60s, 70s and even 80s, although anyone older than 18 can join. And most are women. I understand why the sport skews older — the practice requires a huge time commitment if you want to be competitive, which younger people with jobs and families can’t always afford, and we have plenty of empty nesters and retirees here. But why the gender imbalance? Only 15% of paddlers are men at NBP. It’s a puzzle, says Long. Dragon boat requires upper body strength, cardio fitness and serious training. “We’ve had an influx of men recently,” says Long, “and I’m hoping that continues.”

I showed up at a recent practice after having been out of town for a month and was worried about being a clumsy stranger. Long spotted me, smiled and said, “Welcome back.” I climbed into the boat and said hello to my benchmate and focused on the athlete in front of me.

Paddles up.

Nathan Benderson Park's dragon boat program has become one of the largest and most competitive in the U.S. In September, its athletes are headed to the world competition in Italy.

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