About
Dragon in the Drink started in 1999, the first year Kelowna held a dragon boat festival.
We were the first all-women’s team to register. The team consisted of family and friends and was entirely funded by the team members.
As there were few women’s teams, we competed with mixed teams and achieved a respectable 4th place finish in our division.
2000: was a great year, seeing us in a favourable position to win gold in the women’s division; however in our final race we were disqualified.
2001: saw us back in full force and we took the silver medal in the Women’s Diamond A.
2002: we paddled to a 2nd place finish in the Women’s Platinum B division with only 2/100ths of a second between first and second. While only a ribbon event, it was a huge achievement for the team. Racing with teams from out of town, far more experienced than ourselves, we placed in a full category above the previous season.
2003: we once again took the silver medal in the Women’s Diamond A, improving our time.
2004: was a repeat of 2003. A silver medal in Women’s Diamond A, just a split second from taking the gold.
2005: with 19 returning team members, we set the goal of winning the gold. We joined the Kelowna Dragon Boat club to benefit from their track record of turning out winning teams. We were finally successful in breaking our silver streak and won the Women’s Diamond A gold!
2006: Women’s Diamond B 1st place.
2007:
2008: this was a busy season for the team, winning 2nd in the Women’s Platinum B division in the Kelowna Dragon Boat Festival, 3rd in Women’s A division in the inaugural Banff Dragon Boat Festival, 2nd in Women’s B division in Vernon.
2009: Penticton, Kelowna Dragon Boat Festival, KDBC festival.
2010: Women’s Platinum A silver medal in the Kelowna Dragon Boat Festival, Women’s gold and the much coveted wooden paddle in the KDBC festival.
2011: This was the most successful season to date. The team attended 5 festivals this year from April through September, coming away with 3 gold medals and 2 silver: Silver - Deep Cove Sprints; Gold - Penticton Sprints; Gold - Kelowna (KDBC); Gold - Vernon; and Silver – Penticton.
Our team name and shirts have drawn attention since the first year. Our name came from our first outing in a dragon boat. Our practice was on a cold and stormy evening, with a coach who seemed oblivious to weather conditions. We stopped on a beach for a futile attempt at bailing water with baseball caps, when the coach told us to head back onto the lake and back to the dock. We were chuckling at another boat that was slowly disappearing in the waves, when we too started taking on water and sinking the boat just off the newly built Manteo Beach Resort. Dragging a 40’ boat filled with water to shore is no easy task and when we finally did so, one guest jokingly pointed out that it was a private beach. During our antics of hauling the boat thru the wind and the waves, someone yelled out, "we should be called Draggin in the Drink" and so with a slight variation the name stuck.
A few statistics:
A dragon boat is approximately 50’ long with the decorative racing head and tail.
Fully loaded with 20 paddlers, a drummer and steersman, it can weigh up to 4000 lbs.
The paddling stroke is unlike most strokes and the main focus is to have all 20 paddlers paddling in total unison.
The drummer maintains the race cadence using the strokers as her guide and calling in power strokes when needed. The drummer is key in providing motivation to the paddlers during the race.
The steersperson relies on a 10’ steering oar to maneuver the boat into the start position and hold a steady course throughout the race.
Races are usually 500 meters, with sprints ranging from 200 to 250 meters in length.