Similar to sculling, dragon boating consists of 20 paddlers sitting two abreast in a 40-foot, 500 pound boat with a colorful dragon head and tail.  A pace-setting drummer in the front and a steersperson in the rear, complete the crew. 

The key to successful dragon boating is all the paddlers working in unison, with paddles hitting the water at the same time.  Dragon Boating is, by nature, a social sport requiring a large number of people to work together.  It develops strength and endurance as well as many friendships.

Dragon Boating is an ancient Chinese sport. Present day dragon boats are still similar to those raced over two thousand years ago.    It is the second most popular team sport in the world, second only to soccer.  There are nearly 50 million people who currently take part in dragon boat races worldwide.

Though mostly popular in China and the Far East, the sport was introduced to Canada at the world Championship Dragon Boat Festival in Vancouver in June 1996. (That is also the year the first all breast cancer dragon boat team was launched). 

Today you can find dragon boat teams in every major Canadian city.  The sport has been slower to arrive in the United States, but it is steadily growing in popularity.  The U.S. Dragon Boat Federation now includes world-class men’s, women’s, and mixed crew teams.  It is a sport that embraces different ages, genders and ability levels.  There is even an effort to promote dragon boating as an Olympic sport.