Philly Race 2008 Write-up
CONGRATULATIONS to the DBCB Philly crew for placing SECOND out of 152 teams winning a SILVER in the A DIVISION FINAL!!!
By Rachel Belino
CONGRATULATIONS to DBCB for winning the SILVER medal out of 152 teams in the Philadelphia dragon boat festival this past Saturday!
Registered as "Boston Dragon Boat Club" so that our home-town could stand out easier in the team listing and festival announcements, our DBCB Philadelphia crew set out to represent Boston and paddle some strong races against 7 other crews in 8-boat heats. Our team tent was nestled in between Harvard Dudley and Ocean State Dragon Boat Club so we were amidst friends and familiar faces for the day! Team tents were set up right beside the river along the race course, which provided us with close-up views of the action. The weather was chilly in the morning when we arrived but thankfully the sun shone more strongly later on in the day and helped keep us a little warmer.
Our first heat was around 10 AM, a time trial that would seed us for the rest of the day, and our Philadelphia crew did not disappoint pulling in a time of 2:10.81 seeding us 3rd overall after the first round! The top 2 fastest times aread of us were 2:10.00 (GSK Firedragons ~ Eh?) and 2:05.91 (MLH&F Team Intensity). Our time trial placed DBCB in the A Division Semi-Final 1, where we faced the 2nd fastest crew, GSK Firedragons ~ Eh?, who managed to pull ahead of us (2:13.32) winning the race (2:12.67).
Our 2nd place finish in the semi-final landed us in the A Division Final (last race of the day) against the other top 7 teams. In the A Division Final, our crew ran a solid exhilirating race winning the silver medal with a time of 2:12.93, where we edged out MLH&F Team Intensity (2:12.98) who won the bronze and just behind GSK Firedragons ~ Eh? (2:12.63) who won the gold -- this was a close one!!! There's nothing like a close race to bring out the best in us! Our team put in a great effort in this final so give your DBCB Philadelphia crew a well-deserved pat on the back the next time you see them!!
Drummer: Gar-Hay
Pacers: Khoa, Evelyne G, Stef, Rachel, Lick, Nancy
Engine Room: Jen C, Steve N, Jim, Igor, Jubair, Chris W, Mike M, Friso, Dan T, Doug
Rockets: Nikki, Risha, Marek, Vanetta
Steerer: Anh Dao
BIG THANKS go out to:
* Dave Yee, Phil and Stallion who came out to practices in September to help steer and coach for the Philadelphia crew. Without your help, we wouldn't have been able to put in the practice time!
* Stef for her invaluable race feedback and advice!
* Nikki and Jen C. for reserving hotel rooms, coordinating the team dinner, and buying team snacks and water for race day!
* Allan Joe and his company for ordering and printing our team jerseys!
* Last but definitely not the least, every single person on the DBCB Philadelphia crew for their performance and team-work this past weekend!
What a great way to end the 2008 season! GO DBCB!!!
