Huu T. Ly posted on July 25, 2009 23:49
Friends & Teammates,
Another year has past, another champion crowned with the coveted title of "Fastest Paddlers in Chinatown" in the 2009 Chinatown Dragon Boat Race for Literacy. Although the NAAAP Chicago did not quite make it to the top this year, I could not have been more proud and happy with our team! It was quite possibly the the most enthusiastic and well prepared NAAAP team to date, with 16 team members who fully devoted their day to travel and train in with the Racine Dragon Boat Club in Racine, Wisconsin to make our team that much better than last year!
With the burn still lingering from the 2nd round loss last year, with race times in the 1:40's, we surged back tremendously this year with a 1st round time of 1:28, the 11th best time out of all the boats with the next 3 best teams less than a second better! This was followed by an unprecedented 9 second improvement in the 2nd round with 1:19! The morale and spirits were high but they soon turned into a focus as we were pitted one-on-one, do-or-die race with a familiar and very strong foe, the Dragon's Chi. As they steadily surged ahead, the team were in a desperate panic to catch up near the midway point and were greatly thrown off sync. Panic turned into solace as we recomposed our selfs and finished strong with a respectable time of 1:20. All in all we finished 16th place, which in itself does not look too satisfying, but with the fun we had and the friendships and connections we made, who's really keeping track?
To put things into perspective,
- This years event was the most competative to date with the top 4 teams being the Lincoln Park Boat Club, 2 law enforcement teams, and Dragon's Chi, who train up to 3 times a week leading up to this event!
- We got the 11th best time in the 1st round time trial
- We were the 2nd best Non-Profit team overall and Top Asian Non-Profit team!
- See the official standings here: http://www.chicagochinatown.org/cccorg/docs/2009%20DBR%20-%20Race%20Results.pdf
Thank Yous
- Big thank you to Kathy Flanigan with Chang Beer for sponsoring us this year!
- Janine, Dawne and Bryan with the Racine Dragon Boat Club for supporting us and giving us a great practice session!
- Carmen Chiu for coordinating the Victory Dinner
- Mountain View Chef for trusting that we wouldn't break anything
- Eddy Chen for your leadership and wisdom
- Wit and Jeff for the comic relief
- Kevin Thai (and Carmen) for your enthusiasm, albeit a little too much at times! ;)
- Juny and Angela for being our trainers and nutritionists!
- Tommy Chang and Andrew Samaniego for the Gatorade, water and granola bars, how much do I owe you? (who bought the buns too? I ate 3)
- Elizabeth Keo, Yoojin Kim and Astin Wu for volunteering at the Victory Dinner.
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Huu T. Ly
Director
Cultural Awareness
NAAAP Chicago
National Association of Asian American Professionals
www.naaapchicago.org
"We Make Leaders"
