By Anjuli Niyogi, Editor-in-Chief

Despite being new to the Viking family, freshmen Maria Duquette and Dayna Kurniawan are no strangers to the sport of dragon boat racing. Dragon boat racing is a traditional Chinese sport that has edged its way into communities around the world, including countries like Australia, Thailand, Korea, Germany, and America. 

Essentially, teams of paddlers race to the finish line in long, narrowboats, cheered on by the beating of drums. To put it simply, Duquette compared the sport to a more well-known aquatic activity; “it’s sort of like paddling, but it works differently. There’s one person on each side [of the boat] and people usually practice one side more than others.”

There’s [about] 20 people paddling and a drummer who sits on the front and helps maintain the rhythm, and there’s also a steer on the back.”

– Dayna Kurniawan (9)

Duquette continued to describe how a dragon boat team usually aims to perform during a race. Once an announcer calls the start time, “you want to get the boat moving as fast as possible to have momentum, and in the middle, you try to be consistent, and at the end, you want to go as fast as possible again.” Only when the tip of the boat passes the final flags of the finish line is the team’s time recorded. 

Much of what has been difficult for Duquette, Kurniawan, and many dragon boat racers has been the technique of paddling. Trying to get your best technique is the first step, “and once you get your best technique you just have the focus on performing it well,” Duquette emphasized. 

Maria Duquette and Dayna Kurniawan race in an international competition held in Thailand.

The most common racing stretches are 500 and 200 meters, with longer races being held over 2,000m, 12km, and 25km. Duquette and Kurniawan noted that most of their racing distances have been 200m stretches, though they have competed in a 2000m. 

These two racers typically practice with their team nearby ─the Oyster Point Dragons. Located in South San Francisco, the Oyster Point’s practices on the Marina are “a nice way to get out there and paddle with everyone” for Kurniawan. For Duquette, much of the sport is also about the team; “I really enjoy paddling with a team […] doing it with other people makes it a lot better”.

As well as competing in triad competitions in Los Angeles and another in Long Beach, Duquette and Kurniawan were recruited by Team USA’s dragon boat Junior team to compete in international competitions. Their first international race was held in Szeged, Hungary, in 2018, where 6200 paddlers from 140 clubs from 28 different countries competed for 6 days. It was this 11th International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) Club Crew World Championships that led to Duquette and Kurniawan’s continued interest in participating in other international competitions.

Their most recent international race was from August 20 – 25, 2019 in the 14th IDBF World Dragon Boat Racing Championships and was located in Pattaya City, Thailand. Kurniawan noted how “there were races the whole day but you’re not on all the races; they split it between sometimes gender, and most of the time age”. In this championship, Thailand placed first, Canada second, and Team USA placed third with Duquette and Kurniawan competing. 

Maria Duquette and Dayna Kurniawan prepare to race for Team USA.

Ultimately, competing on an international team means fewer meetups and practices altogether, as racers come from across the state and country. Duquette and Kurinawa have had three meet-ups previously in Los Angeles with team USA but generally, these two racers practice with the Bay Area Oysters team. 

Since the country was hit with high cases of COVID-19 in March of 2020, practices with the Oyster Point Dragons and their international team have come to a halt. The recent rise in cases has also lessened the hopes of returning to normal practices any time soon. However, when COVID-19 cases are much lower and the majority of the country has received vaccines, both racers are looking forward to getting back on the water. Kurinawa exclaimed, “I’m gonna keep paddling. I’m gonna go to practices every weekend and the races and all of it.” 

Having competed in several international competitions, these two friends are eager to jump back on their boats after the pandemic and continue competing.