Matt Norfleet was recently selected to the Team USA Senior A Open and Mixed crews that would have competed in the Dragon Boat World Championships in Hong Kong this past November, had the event not been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Being named to a Team USA crew is an awesome achievement! Congratulations Matt!
As part of its effort to promote Colorado Cancer Survivor (BCS) Dragon Boat Program, DRACO had a pair of dragon boats on display at this year’s Race 4 Research on Sunday, August 15, 2K21. The annual event was hosted by the Cancer League of Colorado, and is a major fund-raiser for that organization.
Additional photos taken at the event can be seen at this link:
Our dragon boats gunwales were badly in need of repair. We decided to try a novel approach – encasing them in PVC pipe to protect the existing wood structure, and hopefully provide a more maintenance-free surface moving forward. More photos of the project can be seen here: Dragon Boat Gunwale Repair
DRACO is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a $1,000 Service Grant by the Cancer League of Colorado, in support of its BCS dragon boat program and activities that benefit Colorado’s cancer survivor community.
Many thanks to the Cancer League of Colorado for your continued support!!!
This season’s dragon boat events were all canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and appropriate social-distancing making training in the close quarters of dragon boats inadvisable. Consequently, our summer training was restricted to one- and two-man Outrigger Canoes (OCs). An album at the following link includes miscellaneous photos and video clips taken during our practices: OC Practice Excerpts 2K20
On September 26, 2020, DRACO hosted the fourth annual dragon boat day on Lake Arbor for the Shining Stars Foundation kids and their families. Proper social-distancing was carefully observed, and the event proved to be a great success, and everyone had a wonderful time again this year.
More photos can be seen here: Shining Stars Dragon Boat Races
The event was so successful that planning is already underway for another Shining Stars dragon boat race next year!
With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing the cancellation of this season’s dragon boat events, and appropriate social-distancing making training in the close quarters of dragon boats inadvisable, DRACO is gearing up to train in OCs (one and two-man outrigger canoes) this season. To facilitate these practices, Head Coach / Team Captain Michael Boyd (Captain Bligh!) acquired a Yakima Trailer, and converted it to haul four boats, along w/ an inflatable dock. Coupled with the capacity of his rooftop rack, a maximum of six boats can now be staged for safe practices.
More photos of the trailer conversion can be seen here: OC Trailer Conversion
DRACO is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a $6,000 Service Grant by the Cancer League of Colorado, in support of its BCS dragon boat program and activities that benefit Colorado’s cancer survivor community.
Many thanks to the Cancer League of Colorado for your continued support!!!
Team USA Senior C Crews Dominate in Thailand
Michael Boyd, Head Coach and Captain of Colorado’s Phantom Dragons / Pink Phantoms dragon boat crew, recently returned from the IDBF Dragon Boat World Championships in Thailand with a handful of gold medals. Boyd raced as a member of the Team USA Senior C Open crew, an elite group of 60+ year old athletes who emerged victorious in every heat they raced in, capturing gold at each distance category (2000-meters, 1000-meters, 500-meters and 200-meters). The crew also set a World Record for Senior C competitors at 1000-meters. The Senior C Mixed and Women’s crews were similarly dominating; the Mixed paddlers won four gold medals, and the Women captured three golds and a bronze.
For dragon boaters, the IDBF Dragon Boat World Championships is the pinnacle event – the equivalent of what the Olympic games represent to more conventional sports. Winning in Thailand was the culmination of a very extensive and competitive tryout and training process. The Senior C Crews’ formal training calendar began with well-attended tryout camps in California (October, 2018) and Florida (January, 2019), followed by a week-long training camp in April for those who were selected to the team. The final two months included “Train & Race” camps in Ottawa (June, 2019) and Long Beach, California (July, 2019) before departing for Thailand in mid-August for several more days of training/acclimation prior to the races.
The stellar performance of the Team USA Senior C crews at the 2019 IDBF World Championships took the international dragon boating community by surprise, as the senior divisions have historically been dominated by crews from Canada. Congratulations to Michael Boyd and the rest of the Team USA Senior C paddlers – IDBF Dragon Boat World Champions!
• Senior C Open 200-Meter Race 1
• Senior C Open 200-Meter Race 2
• Senior C Open 500-Meter Race 1
• Senior C Open 500-Meter Race 2
• Senior C Open 1000-Meter Race 1
• Senior C Open 1000-Meter Race 2
• Senior C Open 2000-Meter Race
A video following the 2019 USA Senior C National Dragon Boat paddlers in their quest for gold at the 2019 IDBF World Dragon Boat Championships in Pattaya Thailand is at this link:
Jolane Fenner had the honor of racing as a member of the Team USA Senior B Women’s crew in the 2019 IDBF Dragon Boat World Championships in Thailand, bringing home two bronze medals. An article from the Montrose Press describing her quest to race w/ Team USA can be found at this link:
Dragon Boating on the National Stage
