Tennessee Heat Dragon Boat Club made a big splash in its first competition.
The team finished in second place during the Tennessee Clean Water Network Dragon Boat Festival on Aug. 26 at Volunteer Landing in Knoxville.
Through three races, the Heat edged out experienced teams from Chattanooga and North Carolina, but fell just a boat’s length short of the Charlotte Fury.
“We were so thrilled with our showing,” Ginger McDonald, Heat member, said. “We kept cutting a full second off each race, so we just kept improving. The team that beat us were a young, strong team. We’re from Tellico Village, so we’re not exactly spring chickens. For us to have done as well as we did, we were really excited. We never really expected to keep up with them, but we really did.”
Mike Michelli founded the club in June 2016.
“We are finishing up our second season right now,” McDonald said. “They started the club, and we’ve just kind of taken over. Up until now, we haven’t had enough members to even fill up a boat, so that’s why we haven’t raced until now. It’s really grown since then.”
McDonald said the club has also recruited several other boaters from the area.
“We’ve grown to about 26 people so far,” McDonald said. “There was another team in Oak Ridge called the Secret City Mad Paddlers, and they lost their mooring. Some of them ended up joining us and that’s how we were really able to fill up a boat in one weekend. They’ve been a fine addition to our club, and we’ve welcomed them.”
Dragon boating is a fast-growing team sport, steeped in Chinese tradition and legend. Historians date the sport’s beginnings to more than 2,500 years ago.
Festivals take place each year across the nation, and many of them support charity organizations.
“It’s really an up and coming sport, especially at the senior level,” McDonald said. “It’s been expanding internationally, although certainly we aren’t at that level. This weekend was good, though, because the proceeds were going to benefit the Tennessee Clean Water Network and Knoxville Area Rescue Ministries.”
Dragonboats are more than 40 feet long and feature 20 paddlers, a drummer and a steerer.
“It’s a long, canoe-like boat,” McDonald said. “There are 10 seats, so there’s two paddlers in each seat. The biggest thing about dragon boating is practicing enough so that all the paddlers are in sync to the beat of the drummer. If you can get in sync well enough, you can really get the boat going pretty fast.”
McDonald believes there are several reasons the club is growing in the Village.
“Well, if you really look at it, dragon boating offers some attractive options,” McDonald said. “First of all, it’s something new — it’s something different. For people who like to get a good workout but haven’t got very good knees or hips anymore, this is something you can do at pretty much any level. For me, I also really enjoy just the idea of being a part of team and making friends.”
Club practices begin at 8:45 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at the Tugaloo Beach Pavilion.
For more information, call McDonald at 937-974-2516.
