By Jennifer McClenin

Hundreds of professional and amateur athletes gathered at the calm waters of Brooks Lake at Fluor Corporation in Sugar Land to compete in the Texas Dragon Boat Races.

The what-races? This is the response I received each time I told someone that I was training for this race. Despite being one of the world ’s fastest growing team water sports, most people have never heard of Dragon Boat Racing.

Dragon Boat Racing consists of 20 people sitting 2-by-2 in a very long 600 pound boat and rowing their arms off for 500 meters. While the race is a relatively short distance and lasts only about two minutes, if you ’re one of the people in the boat, it’s the longest two minutes of your life.

The Event – The event is a weekend-long festival known officially as the Texas Dragon Boat Association ’s Gulf Coast International Dragon Boat Regatta.  This was the Association’s 6th annual race, and the third time it was held in Sugar Land.  TDBA added this October racing weekend due to the increased popularity of the Houston Dragon Boat Races, which started in 2001 and are held in May each year.  

The festival included live cultural performances, pan-Asian cuisine, arts and crafts, face painting, a moonwalk and other fun for the kids, many local business vendors and of course, the races.  

This year’s focus was on Breast Cancer Awareness. The Pink Ribbon Tour arrived with their pink fire trucks that were climbed on, explored, and enjoyed by hundreds of children. They were escorted by a few dozen Harleys, thanks to the Harley ’s Angels Women’s Group. A special survivor ceremony was held as well.

In addition to being a fundraiser for the new Sugar Land boat house, the festival also promoted the art of dragon boating, increased awareness of Asian culture and enhanced cross-culture understanding. It ’s a perfect fit for the city of Sugar Land, one of the state’s most diverse cities. Thousands of people showed up to watch the performances, visit the vendor booths and enjoy the excitement of the races.

The Participants – There were more than 30 teams in all, comprised of professional and amateur athletes. There were

The Little Team That Could – Included in this countrywide gathering was my team from Fort Bend County. Headed by Jason Hodge of Medical Fitness Pros in Katy, and manned by average local citizens, our little rookie team trained intensely in the gym and on our own for two months to become physically prepared to compete against this skilled lineup.

Several of the experienced teams showed up exuding confidence. They were sporting matching life vests, and some teams even had their own paddles. They set up massive camps with personalized paddles hanging around their tents, and chanted and cheered like teams who planned to take home trophies.

Talk about intimidating. Our little tent was full of rookies—half of us had only been in a dragon boat once, a few weeks prior, for our one and only in-boat practice. The other half wasn ’t at that practice and hadn’t set a single water shoe in a dragon boat before the first race of the day.

Excited and nervous at the same time, we assembled, focused and got down to business. Our months of physical training paid off. Our team won the Rookie Division (beating a team of young college kids) and we proudly accepted our beautiful dragon trophy.

Looking Ahead – The Medical Fitness Pros Team will be back next year to race again. Consider yourselves warned, oh ye experienced-teams-who-travel-from-afar, we are rookies no more. Next year we might even have our own paddles!  

For details about the next opportunity to paddle your arms off, visit the Texas Dragon Boat Association online at www.texasdragonboat.com. For more information on group training, or to join in the next group adventure, visit www.medicalfitnesspros.com. To learn more about breast cancer awareness, visit www.pinkribbontour.com.