For the UCLA dragon boat team, synchronization and unity are key
The UCLA Dragon Boat team placed first in the college division and fourth in the mixed division at the ViewSonic Festival in Long Beach on July 31.
By Chris Nguyen
Aug. 8, 2011 2:13 a.m.
Pulsating drums, beats, coordination and synchronization are normally associated with marching bands. At UCLA, those components are associated with, of all things imaginable, dragons.
The UCLA dragon boat team requires power, precision and passion to execute well in competition. Drumming provides a heartbeat which the team paddles along to. Individual paddlers are responsible for their own movements but also must coincide with the greater rhythm of the team.
“It requires a lot of being in synch and being together in order to keep the boat moving as fast as possible,” David Yang, the president of the club, said. “And it’s one of the toughest things with such an inefficient boat.”
Although dragon boat is not a typical sport seen in high school, the very competitive club has cultivated an environment of hard training to develop new teammates to keep the team strong.
“No one is naturally good at (dragon boat) so it takes effort and a lot of dedication,” Yang said. “We’re a tier one club sport; we try to get athletes interested that haven’t been exposed before.”
With most of the members being new to the sport, an intense practice schedule is needed. The training regimen consists of two water practices on Saturday and Sunday in Long Beach and two land practices throughout the week at Drake Stadium ““ not to mention a gym plan written by the coaches that takes three days.
Team chemistry is eventually developed through the rigorous training sessions.
“When you’re totally fresh you end up being on a boat with 20 other people you don’t even know. We spend the first season trying to just develop good chemistry and build a foundation for people to cooperate with each other,” Yang said.
“It’s really tough because a lot of people are used to individual sports where they can work for themselves, but we work for the sake of the other 19 people on the boat to get that boat moving.”
On the weekend of July 30 and 31, the UCLA dragon boat team competed in a blend of two festivals in Long Beach: the International Collegiate Dragon Boat Festival and the ViewSonic Festival.
In the International Collegiate Dragon Boat Festival the Bruins faced two international teams: one from Macau and one from China. The Macau team was a professional team with its members competing in dragon boat as a living.
“Since they are professional international teams, the competition was pretty fierce and a lot of the top colleges in the nation were involved,” Yang said.
In the ViewSonic Festival they competed at the top division for all ages and genders and finished in fourth place. This was the second year in a row that UCLA was able to qualify for this division.
“We’re trying to make a presence as more than just a college team ““ we’re trying to compete with the adults,” Yang said. “We try to be as efficient as possible with our workouts and stuff and try to squeeze out every ounce of hard work we can get so we can compete with them.”
“It is hard to be a student and a competitive athlete at the same time, but these international teams and adult teams make the competition what it is, so they make it really fun.”
The UCLA dragon boat team won the college division at the ViewSonic Festival and even fared well against professional teams despite competing in 10-man boats, something they had not even trained for.
The team only carries one team of 20 members to meets over summer but expands to two teams with 50 members during the school year.
With much success in the program, the UCLA dragon boat team has been able to drum up support and interest to remain competitive with some of the world’s best.
