CYC Dragon Boat Team Wins Second Place in International Dragon Boat Race

Asianweek - San Francisco - CYC’s (Community Youth Center of San Francisco) top-ranked high school dragon boat team arrived in Vancouver full of excitement and anticipation for their first international race outside of the United States at the 21st annual Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival in Vancouver, B.C., held on Saturday, June 20 and Sunday, June 21. The team joined other teams from across Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and the Philippines to compete in the Junior Division.

The team of 22 paddlers, accompanied by four coaches and one staff person from CYC, placed second and first in the first two heats of Saturday’s race, which qualified them for the next day’s semi-finals. On race day Sunday, the CYC team came in second in the semi-final heat, and placed second overall in the Division A Championship race, besting their semi-final time by more than 10 seconds!

“The team’s win at a stunning history making time of 1:59.120 seconds was overwhelming and emotional,” said Coach Wilson Li. “This is the first time in the history of CYC that a team has broken under two minutes, and possibly the California Dragon Boat Association’s first high school team ever to paddle under two minutes as well,” he added.

Established in 2001, CYC’s dragon boat team is a diverse team of students from high schools throughout San Francisco. “This is one of CYC’s proudest moments and we are extremely happy for the youth and the team,” said CYC Executive Director Sarah Wan. “Each and every one of them worked hard for many months to fundraise for this trip and to come back as winners and representing the U.S. and San Francisco is a major accomplishment.

Their success and the success of the dragon boat program in eight short years is a tribute to the dedication and commitment of the coaches and our staff.”

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