Paddling and splashing to become Dragon King
Print Edition
WITH thunderous drums and boldly colored boats, the Shanghai Dragon Boat finals were held recently on the Huating River in the Songjiang District.
The competition pitted 53 teams from across the city, vying for the crown of 2014 Dragon Boat King. In the field were seven teams from Songjiang. One captured third place in the family division.
“It was our first time to compete in the boat race as a family,” said bronze medal winner Zhang Wei, from Songjiang’s Yueyang Community.
Five members of Zhang’s family, all sports lovers, were on board the team. Their coach Dong Hualian said the third place finish was a stunning victory for the family’s first competition.
Another Songjiang team, Jiang Hao’s family from Maogang Town, wasn’t as lucky.
“Our cockswain was my grandnephew, but he had an emergency at school, so we had to change at the last minute,” Jiang said.
The cockswain also served as the drummer, maintaining stroke rhythm and boosting team morale. When the grandnephew dropped out, the team lost its “soul,” Jiang said. The boat deviated from the course and was called foul.
Jiang’s family grew up by the river and made its living fishing during the 1960s. Though they had to quit fishing, family members still kept their special attachment to the water.
“We applied for the contest when we heard about the race,” Jiang’s uncle Gu Zhongyuan said. “But we didn’t practice enough. Next time we’ll do better.”
In the final of the professional class of the 200-meter small dragon boat race, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai Ocean University and Shanghai Second Polytechnic University grabbed gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively.
In the final of the 500-meter big dragon boat race, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai Ocean University and the Shanghai Lottery Center finished one, two and three.
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