During the past 10 years dragon boat racing has taken off worldwide. Dragon Boat Racing is the second most popular sport in the world according to Paddler magazine. This is of course due to the extreme popularity in Asia. It is also known as Asian longboat racing, swan boat racing in Thailand, etc.

The growth of the sport in the Western World, in both hemispheres, has been phenomenal with annual Dragon Boat Festivals being held in such diverse cities as London, Hamburg, Chicago, Toronto, New York, Vancouver, Sydney, Portland and many more. Almost every major city in Canada has a major race with several hundred paddlers.

The reason for this huge growth is simple......dragon boat racing is fast, exciting and spectacular.

Each team is made up of 22 people, 20 paddlers, a drummer who keeps them in time and a sweep who keeps them steered in the right direction to the finish line. The objective is to paddle a 12 metre dragon boat down a set length course of between 250 to 1000 metres, where teamwork is more important than raw power.

Top speed only comes with a well timed stroke of the blade hitting the water as horizontally as possible with a quick short pull-back driven by a torso rotation. The goal is to generate enough speed to cause the boat to rise high and smooth above the water by a cresting wave from beneath the bow.

Typically, a seasoned Dragon Boat team will have a stroke rate of 70 - 80 strokes per minute and can travel over the water at three to four meters (10 - 13 feet) per second.