DANIEL SUN
VP OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS
Paddle side: Right
Year with UTSC DB: 2nd
Dragon boating is a team-based sport that involves 20 paddlers, a drummer and a steersperson. Teams compete against one another in different race distances. The most common distances are 200m, 500m, 2000m.
At UTSC Dragon Boat, you get the opportunity to paddle with and against some of the world's best paddlers. As a university team, we will be placed under the University Division to compete against other university teams in the summer. Some of the regattas we attended include the Pickering Dragon Boat Festival, Toronto International Dragon Boat Race Festival and Hamilton Waterfest! And we are aiming to qualify for the Canadian Dragon Boat Championships!
The dragon boat team is like a family. You will meet a lot of healthy, motivated people and be able to form some lifelong friendships. We train hard and play even harder. Each of our off-season practice consists of fun team-building games. Apart from training, the team organizes different socials like house parties, visiting escape rooms, boardgames cafes, going on team feasts. etc. Despite being competitive, the dragon boat community is super friendly and welcoming :) You can also meet friends from other teams during regattas!
Many of our current members joined the team with zero experience. In fall and winter, we will be focusing on strength and conditioning dry land training, as well as and learning basic paddling techniques at pool practice. We begin our dragon boat training at Frenchman's Bay Marina in the summer. Our coaches and some of our members are part of another internationally competitive team. With experienced paddlers on the team, our coaching and training will be top-tier, fun and personalized according to each person's fitness level and experience!