Racers prepare for Saturday's Dragon Boat Race

May 7—Paddles up! Paddles down! Thirty-seven teams are practicing and syncing up this week for Decatur Morgan Hospital Foundation's 13th annual Dragon Boat Race & Festival on Saturday at Point Mallard Park.

After an 8:30 a.m. opening ceremony that will feature the dotting of the dragon's eye and a performance by the Daikin drummers, teams from Austin and Decatur high schools, Daikin, Nucor, The Decatur Daily and more will chant, paddle and race 46-foot-long, traditional Hong Kong-style dragon boats.

The event is free to the public.

Dynamic Dragon Boat Racing, of Knoxville, Tennessee, has about 29 events a year, mostly in the eastern United States. The company provides boats, paddles, life preservers and instructors. Each team consists of 22 people, with a drummer at the front, 20 rowers and a steerer (always a Dynamic instructor) in the back.

Dynamic co-owner Chris Behling said his instructors "teach them everything that they need to know for race day," starting with safety, commands and figuring out the rowers' alignment. This all occurs on the Point Mallard beach before they hit the water.

"First thing they start learning to do is the stroke and then paddling together," Behling said Tuesday.

Moving out into the Tennessee River, Behling said they continue working on paddling in sync.

"After they're paddling really well together, we'll just go ahead and start focusing on what they need for race day. We teach them to start and how to race based on what we've been working on," Behling said.

He said the instructors then teach each team "a good power series at the end of the race so they can really hammer that last 50 meters."

The race is 250 meters, and Behling said the fast teams usually finish 1.5 or 1.6 minutes.

"The water is a little bit shallower here, and that makes a difference," Behling said. "You always run faster when you get into deeper water. Once you get (into water that's) over 10 feet, that allows the boat to glide, and here we'll create a bit of wake at the end of the race."

A member of the Daikin Row-Bots, Haylie Martin is on one of two Daikin America boats. She is one of the more experienced participants as she prepares for her third competition.

"I've been upgraded to drummer," the Athens resident said. "I'm not sure if that means I'm really good or really bad at rowing — probably the second."

Martin said she thought her team did well during Tuesday's practice.

"We'll be better on race day," she said confidently. "We'll have the enthusiasm and energy. We just need to improve our timing a little bit."

Lauren Barnett was waiting on her team, the Kickin' AHS, to arrive for practice. She said her team mainly consists of seniors at Austin.

"This is kind of like a last hurrah before graduation, a fun thing we get to do together," Barnett said.

A first timer, Barnett admitted that she is a little nervous.

"I'm nervous but I'm excited. I think we'll do well; we have a reputation to keep up," she said.

Reeves Waller, Carrigan Collins and Hope Bouchillon were preparing for their practice with Decatur High seniors. This is also their third year to enter the races.

"The Austin-Decatur rivalry is big for the high schoolers, but then there's the overall race," Waller said. "There's always a really good team ... . We just try to get in the top four so we can run in the last race."

There are also competitions within schools. Collins said they raced last year with the JUG Oars, a team consisting of members and friends of the JUG Sorority at Decatur High.

"There's a big race between JUG and Delta, but we want to beat JUG because we're out of that boat this year," Collins said.

While fun, the races will also be physically taxing on the competitors. Benjamin Petrie, of the Trash Pandas baseball team's employees, said he tried to prepare by using the rowing machine at the gym. He also occasionally kayaks but said he knows this will still hurt.

"That first race we did (in practice) I was feeling it major time," Petrie said. "My whole left side felt like it was going to fall off my body."

The races can be physically grueling, but the racers said it's great to contribute to a local nonprofit.

"We like to get involved in the community," Petrie said. "We all agreed to bring the whole team out and get the Pandas out in the dragon boat race. Go Panda!"

Martin said she enjoys the dragon boat races "because it's a good way to give back to the community. It's fun to be out here and be with your coworkers and have a good, fun Saturday morning."

According to the event website, the hospital foundation has gifted to DMH over $2.5 million in the last five years. This includes $1.6 million for technology and equipment, $600,000 for facility improvements and $300,000 or employee scholarships and other programs.

"This is our biggest fundraiser of the year," said Lillie Beth Warner, the hospital foundation's communications and special events coordinator.

She said the plan is to buy an endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) with funds raised in this year's event.

An EBUS is medical imaging equipment used to visualize the inside of the lungs. It uses a lighted tube known as a bronchoscope with an attached ultrasound to look at a specific area of the lungs to diagnose an infection, tumor, nodule or other lung condition. Providers may also take samples for biopsy at the same time.

—

Historic beginnings

According to History.com, some early forms of dragon boat racing "may have started as rites to ensure a good harvest, perhaps by ending drought conditions."

Beginning as early as the Shang dynasty, 1600 — 1046 B.C., communities performed rain-invoking ceremonies devoted to the dragon. One of Chinese culture's most important mythical creatures, the dragon was believed to govern rain, rivers and seas.

The website says another theory suggests that dragon boat racing "was designed to dispel evil and promote health and good fortune."

History.com says the "most enduring dragon-boat origin story" involves the tale of Qu Yuan, a much-revered ancient Chinese poet and statesman.

"An advisor to King Huai of Chu during the Warring States period (475 — 221 B.C.), Qu Yuan was exiled for proposing a strategic alliance to counter an impending invasion. After his predictions came true with the king's capture (and ultimate death in captivity), Qu Yuan took his own life by jumping into the Miluo River — an act of ultimate loyalty to his sovereign.

"People from all around then set out in their boats to try and save him. Failing that, they threw offerings of rice into the river to placate river spirits."

In his poetry, Qu Yuan himself writes often about throwing offerings into rivers to summon spirits. These offerings are the origin of zongzi, the glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves and steamed that are traditionally eaten during a dragon boat festival.

— bayne.hughes@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2432