Durham Dragons paddling for a good cause

This weekend, 25 members of the Durham College (DC) community will take to the water at the Port Perry Dragon Boat Festival on Saturday, June 15.

The Durham Dragons team is comprised of DC staff, students, faculty, and alumni. Some of them are veterans of dragon boating, while others are picking up paddles for the first time. But they’re all determined to have fun, represent DC and raise funds for the Port Perry Hospital Foundation and Scugog Lake Stewards.

“The feedback has been fantastic. People are loving it,” said team captain Lori Wilson, Test Centre Coordinator and a long-time dragon boater who regularly competes with the Pickering Dragon Boat Club.

In a dragon boat race, the drummer sits at the front and keeps the paddlers in sync, while another member of the team steers from the back. The remaining team members paddle the boat as hard as they can in the hope of outpacing their opponents.

A joint team of paddlers from DC and Ontario Tech University competed until 2019, but this will be the first race for the Durham Dragons. They’ve been getting a crash course in the sport from their experienced coach, Catie Sahadath, a para-athlete on Canada’s national dragon boat team and Associate University Librarian, Scholarly Resources at the DC and Ontario Tech Campus Library.

“Dragon boating is my very favourite thing, and it is very special to me to be able to introduce the sport to new folks, especially to my colleagues here at DC,” she said. “Each practice I am amazed at how energized and fun the group is. They have taken to the sport really quickly, and everyone has such a positive, supportive attitude.”

With hard work, the guidance of their coach and expert steering from DC alumna Rola Elbayrakdar, Wilson and team are ready for the race, and guests are welcome to attend the event at Palmer Park in Port Perry.

“It will be a fun day to come out and cheer us on.”