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March 30, 2007 Vol. 77,
no. 10S
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| POWER PLAYERS: Paddlers (all engineering students) demonstrate the proper technique of leaning into their blades to power a stroke.
RACHEL SHAFER PHOTO
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Dragon boating takes off at Berkeley
CEE senior helps transform club from casual to competitive
It’s the numbers that make dragon boating so
complicated. In whitewater kayaking, there’s one paddler. In
canoeing, there are two. In whitewater rafting, there are six or eight.
But in dragon boating, there are 20, making it one of the most complex
of the paddling sports. No one knows this better than CEE senior Joe
Liu, who has been a paddler on the Cal Dragon Boating Team since he
was a freshman and now serves as its coach.
“Everyone has to be in sync, otherwise the boat doesn’t move well,” he
says. “Dragon boating is a true team sport. Everyone has to work
together. That’s why practice is the most important thing.”
Dragon boating gets its name from the colorful dragon heads and tails
that adorn these long, slim boats, which look like many-legged animals
skimming the water’s surface. The sport originated in China more
than 2,000 years ago as a way to commemorate a beloved statesman who
committed suicide by drowning himself in a river. Today, it’s
an organized, international sport with competitions at the high school,
college and adult level. Teams race each other on bays, lakes and rivers
over distances of between 200 and 2,000 meters.
Liu, who’s also on the Concrete Canoe and outrigger canoe teams,
paddled his first dragon boat in high school and got hooked. He joined
Cal’s team the summer before his freshman year. “Back then,
the team practiced maybe three times before a race,” he says. “It
was pretty recreational.” By spring his first year, Liu and a
core group of new paddlers decided to kick it up a notch.
Under Liu’s leadership, the team began practicing year-round,
once a week. Today the Paddling Bears has roughly 40 members and competes
in three regattas a year, usually entering a novice and a competitive
boat. The team’s commitment and hard work has paid off. Last
September, Cal placed second among college teams at the San Francisco
International Dragon Boat Festival.
Liu emphasizes that winning isn’t the focus. “I love that
feeling after a race when we know we’ve run it well and did the
best we could,” he says. “That sensation of running a good
race is my favorite part of dragon boating.”
As well as the camaraderie. On a recent Saturday morning, Liu and 30
other paddlers showed up at the Alameda Marina to practice. During
warm-up stretches, they talked and kidded one another as a huge Coast
Guard cutter cruised by. “If we’re all friends, then you’re
not just paddling for yourself,” Liu explains. “You’re
paddling for the person next to you, the one ahead of you. You’re
more invested in it.” The team holds social events to encourage
its members to get to know one another.
ME junior Victor Yu has been on the team since his freshman year. “It’s
just fun,” he says simply. Then he grabs a lifejacket and paddle
and makes his way to the dock.
New members are welcome! For more information, e-mail joe_liu@berkeley.edu.
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