If anyone went to the Olympic Rowing Venue on Lake Lanier on Saturday, September 8th hoping to see the speedboat drag races, I hope they stayed to watch the Dragon Boat races anyway.
Dragon Boat races are not merely multicultural events — like watching people from New Jersey and Mississippi trying to understand one another’s speech — they’re more like immersion into other cultures.
And there are boat races too. Lots of them. For hours.
Boat crews have a minimum of 12 members — not counting the drummers who help rowers maintain their rhythm and the person who actually steers the boat. The maximum is 20.
I was surprised to learn that you don’t have to bring your own boat. After your team passes all the necessary requirements [Click Here for the Rules] the officials assign one of the dragon boats to your team for each race.
That’s nice because it would take some serious effort to construct one of these magnificent vessels in your basement.
This year’s event had all sorts of teams. Everyone had a great time.
There were boatloads of lawyers who were unafraid of falling overboard and being eaten by sharks because of what they termed “a professional courtesy.”
Everyone’s favorite seemed to be the crew comprised of cancer survivors.
Many of the races were close.
We’ll look for you next year. Until then, here are a few more shots from this year’s event.
