Dragon boating made its debut on Grand Lake on August 17, as the Phantom Dragons participated as a demonstration entry in this year’s Spirit of the Lake Regatta, part of Grand Lake’s “Crews and Brews” weekend events. Among other things, their dragon boat served as an escort for the kayak race between the Mayors of Grand Lake and Estes Park. Based on the response, dragon boats will most likely be back again next year – possibly with their own competitive division!
Jesse Thorne (Death Grip)
Jesse is your generic disposable squid that provides awesome and necessary power to the driving force that is the Phantom Dragons dragon boat race team.
Jesse originally started dragon boating during the summer of 2013, as an outlet for physical and mental exercise, and instantly became captivated, pursuing further training that would lead up to his first local competition at the annual Colorado Dragon Boat Festival (participating as the “off the port-side quarter” paddler after only a month of training and conditioning prior to the event).
Jesse continues to maintain a level of motivation, camaraderie, and enthusiasm that is lasting and genuine. Always looking for improvement and critique to refine his developing skills, he will rise and stand confidently among fellow seasoned shipmates and uphold the energy of the Phantom Dragon family.
Holding true to his nickname, earned during an introspective learning point derived from discomfort in a paddle-arm muscle, Jesse believes in living life adventurously and abundantly. His life-philosophy holds that “if one lives their days without occasionally hanging on for dear life with a death-grip, then one is not living life to the fullest”.
Female paddlers from the Phantom Dragons and Lao Buddhist teams joined forces to place first in the 250-meter Women’s Open Division in the 2013 Colorado Dragon Boat Festival. Way to go, ladies!
Congratulations to the Phantom Dragons on their strong finish in the 2013 Colorado Dragon Boat Festival. The Phantoms won a hard-earned third place in the Hong Kong 500-meter Competitive (A) Division, along w/ 4th place in the 250-meter division and 3rd in the 1000-meter “Guts & Glory” race. Paddle Salute to the Phantom Dragons!
The Phantom Dragons and Lao Buddhist teams got together for a series of tune-up races to help prepare for the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival (July 27-28). These demo races, using DRACO’s 10-man boats, were held July 20 on Union Reservoir in Longmont, in conjunction with the Kinetics Sculpture Race. After the racing, the Phantom Dragons took interested spectators out on the water for a taste of dragon boat paddling.
The Phantom Dragons were out in full force yesterday, practicing for the upcoming Colorado Dragon Boat Festival (T-Minus two weeks and counting . . . )
Two Phantom Dragons paddlers met certification standards to steer for other teams in the upcoming Colorado Dragon Boat Festival, based on their performance at an evaluation held June 22 at Aurora Reservoir. Congratulations, and paddle salute to Luke Esbenson and Daniel Ng!
Luke Esbenson
Daniel Ng
The Phantom Dragons had a great practice session last night on Lake Arbor. They put the dragon head and tail on the boats for this practice, and had a small celebration afterwards in observance of Double Fifth!
Four members of the Phantom Dragons team attended the Bow Wave Dragon Boat Camp in Florida, held April 7-13, 2K13. The group (Rich Ochiuzzo (Iron Jaw), Stefan Michaelsen (Mr. Oblivious), Deborah Boyd (Princess) & Michael Boyd (Captain Bligh) is shown here at the end of the first half of their 9± mile “Causeway” paddle on Thursday. The week concluded with a 2000-meter race Saturday morning.
Congratulations to the Phantom Dragons on their performance in the 10th Annual Arizona Dragon Boat Festival held March 23-24, 2K13! With some great help from members of the CAU23, LA Harbor Dragons, and Wasabi Power Surge (not in photo) teams, they won Silver Medals in the Mixed C Division, and set a new team best of 2:19.63 for 500 meters. The Phantoms also won their 250m heat (but didn’t qualify for the finals) with a time of 1:14.78 – another team best. In addition, several Phantom Dragons paddlers helped the Space Dragons Masters team bring in silver medals in that division, too!