Flying out of San Francisco at 8am to arrive in Tampa at 5pm. 5 days of training camp. Initially my time trial was going to be Saturday, but due to high winds it will be moved to Monday. It is messing with my head a little bit, as I was hoping to get it out of the way first. Regardless, I will refocus and remember to have a good time and learn. Excited to be a paddler and grow this week. Hopefully will be able to stand out and secure a spot for Germany in July! Who else is in Florida? I know some folks are in Chase Suites Rocky Point and others in Sarasota. Give a shoutout and take some photos together and share here! 🙌🙌🙌

Hello! I'm Linda from Novato. I paddle with DragonMax Berkeley but I am also a member of DragonWarriors San Francisco. I paddle ACP, BCP, and Senior D when it's available! I have been to 4 CCWC competitions (qualified for France, too, but you know how it was) and I include dragonboat as often as I can in every trip I take. Happy to be online learning from Tek and all of you. I want to improve my ability to hinge AND rotate at the same time to get a more powerful catch and fully bury my blade through the entire stroke. Also, I'm a new coach and want to see how Tek models that. Learn from the best, right?

Hi everyone! Only been paddling for less than a year but loving it!! Morro Bay is the best place for dragon boating- so glad to be here.

I have been in love with the water since I was a little girl! As an adult, I started paddling outrigger canoes when I lived on Maui as part of Hawaiian Canoe Club and Kailua Canoe Club when I lived on Oahu. I've raced all the Hawaiian big ocean races (and some in California) on OC6, OC2, OC1. When my husband and I had twins we moved to Colorado... In Colorado, I first took up triathlon, then mountain climbing, then ultramarathon running, until I found my way back to the water in river SUP and flatwater SUP racing. I showed up to a SUP race two summers ago to find two OC1s on top of a car in the parking lot. It was the first time I had seen OCs in Colorado! Long story short, I left my board on my car and raced on one of those boats that day. I fell in with the dragonboat coaches that owned the OCs and began meeting them at the reservoir for early morning paddles. I eventually started paddling with their dragonboat team (RPT) and now try to be on the water whenever I can on whatever craft I can. My favorite being my own new OC1. I've recently raced ADR and Hanohano and attended a couple of camps. My goal is to get faster and develop better technique for time trials.

I started paddling 3 years ago when I moved to Washington State. I was excited to be out on the water, but didn’t know much about paddling and only knew about Dragon Boating from my cousins who participate in annual races organized by their local Rotary club in St Neots, England. I figured if they could do it (with my aunt as the drummer), then I could do it too. When I joined our local team in Gig Harbor, I had no idea that I would have the chance to race, but as I learned and trained I really fell in love with the sport, racing with my team and our community involvement. That has led me to attend camps including the Pan Am camp years ago where I saw that Tek was coaching. I bought an OC in October, 2024 so I could train more often and with greater concentration on improvement of my fitness and paddling ability. I also balance my training working full time and raising my 13 year old daughter. Having the OC in addition to dragon boat practice gives me more flexibility to fit in paddling workouts more frequently. I hope to be a more efficient and stronger paddler while meeting more people in the awesome paddler community. (Pic of me at first OC time trials-had paddled less than 10 times in an OC and was just happy I stayed dry, 2nd pic-where I paddle in Gig Harbor, 3rd-Anothe time trial avoiding gators.🐊)