Tsunami senior dragon boat team heads off to conquer the world
One of Edmonton’s dragon boat teams is headed to Europe this week for the sport’s highest level of competition.
As they entered the North Saskatchewan River in their last big practice at home, they chanted, “I don’t know but I’ve been told, someone here is getting old,” and continued with lyrics about beating cataracts and heart attacks.
Members of Team Tsunami, the Edmonton Dragon Boat Racing Club’s mixed seniors competitive team, range in age from 40 to 67, and many work full time.
They are headed to Szeged, Hungary, for the Club Crew World Dragon Boat Championships July 17-22, which coach Lauria MacDougall calls “our Olympics.”
Unlike rowing, dragon boaters face forward in the boat, with 20 paddlers per team. At the back stands a steerperson who directs the boat, and at the front sits a drummer who relays the steerperson’s commands to the paddlers. MacDougall finds dragon boating special because all members make the same strokes at the same time, so there can be no “standout players” on the team.
Members help each other move furniture, support each other through medical afflictions and celebrate each others’ retirements. One paddler brings her dog to every practice to join the team on group runs. Another member, Ian Howatt, 45, brings his sevenyear-old son Ethan to practices. He sometimes rides along with the paddlers while they train.
“The team is close-knit and everyone is supportive of each other,” said MacDougall, who has coached the team since it started competing in 2014. “It very much is (a family).”
Paddlers come from a number of backgrounds, including military, law, nursing and public service. For the past two years, the crew trained six days every week for all months except October to make it to the world championships. On top of almost-daily training, they ’ve had to fundraise throughout the year as well — accommodation costs in Hungary are around $45,000, and fluctuate with exchange rates, said team manager Bob Sochowski.
Tsunami’s intense training regimen helped Sochowski, also a paddler on the team, recover from a heart attack seven months ago.
“When you’re on a senior team you don’t know all the health issues people have, but we can work through that,” Sochowski said, adding it was an opportunity for him to continue his active lifestyle “because that’s what actually saved me.”
The Club Crew World Dragon Boat Championships will host 6,000 athletes from 30 countries and 140 different clubs. The championships involves 451 races and 119 finals.
Tsunami earned a bronze medal at the last world championships in Adelaide, Australia, in 2016 for the two-kilometre race.