The Lincoln Log

Picture of Dragon Boat team

Abraham Lincoln High School’s finest dragon boat paddlers faced off against world-class competitors in an intense three-day race at the Dragon Boat Club Crew World Championships in Toronto, Canada.

Twenty-six Lincoln paddlers visited to Canada from Aug. 9, to Aug. 13, 2006 for the race and were chaperoned by coach Bob Leung, English teacher Sara Falls, and parent

Angela Lee. The athletes were chosen based on their attendance, practice and training.

Fundraisers such as a Sees’ Candies sale, a car wash and volunteering at a marathon helped send them to the world championships.

Along with Lowell High School, the team was nominated by the California Dragon Boat Association to attend the competition as the western representatives. Despite being long time rivals, the two groups had less than two months to put away their differences and learn to rely on each other.

“We knew we had to compromise for the championships and we ended up working well together,” senior captain Linda Yan said.

Arriving at Toronto, our Lincoln paddlers impatiently waited though they had no idea what to expect. Noticing the competition around them, they realized how challenging and difficult this race was going to be. Even after hearing intimidating remarks about their opponents, Lincoln and Lowell’s spirit remained strong. Not once did they question themselves or doubt their ability.

Leung was confident that the dragon boaters would do well. He has been a Lincoln teacher for six years and a dragon boat coach for ten years. Last August was the sixth time Leung went to the world championships.

“We just went out there and tried to do our best in the competition. We knew that if we didn’t win, it wasn’t because we were bad. The competition was just really really good,“ Leung said.

Our Lincoln athletes competed in nine races and though they didn’t win; they were not next to last. Though some races were better than others, one race that really represented what the Lincoln-Lowell Dragon Boat team was the girl’s team who landed third place in 2000-meter race; they finished in 12 minutes 10 seconds, beating out two teams.

Going to the championships was about more than winning; it taught the team how to work together, support their peers, encourage each other and overall become a team. Not only did they learn new drills and gained an experience they will never forget, bu they also gained new friends.

“It was a great experience to paddle with Lowell because we were able to combine two rival teams together to make a team that bonded very well,” senior Christina Chan said.

Recently, our dragon boaters had a chance to put their new drills to test. On Sept. 24, 2006 the team competed in races at Treasure Island. The teams involved were the Red, Black and Gold teams. All Lincoln teams scored in the top five ranks.

The Gold team won first place in the A division, followed later on by our Red team who received fourth in the A division. The Black team won first in B division. And in the gender races, our girl’s team placed second, while our boy’s team won first.

“We worked hard throughout the season and we had coaches that helped us to achieve what we got. We have a great team so we’ll work harder next season to maintain and improve our status,” junior Winnie Tang said.