Seattle Flying Dragon Boat Club

Who We Are

The Seattle Flying Dragons are folks who enjoy getting out on Lake Union to paddle. For those unfamiliar with the sport, dragon boating is a boat of 20 paddlers, a drummer, and a steersperson paddling to cross the finish line faster than their competition. It's a team sport in its purest form that encompasses the elements of power, speed, synchronization, and endurance.

The appeal of dragon boating is that the sport can accommodate a wide spectrum of skill levels ranging from novice to competitive. It’s also a low-impact, full body workout for people of any experience level. Not to mention that it's lots of fun! We can make a paddler out of anyone - it's all about time on the water.

We paddle year round on Lake Union, gathering four times a week in the parking lot of the Kenmore Air Terminal at the south end of Lake Union: 950 Westlake Avenue N. Newcomers welcome! See our Practices page for more info.

During the Spring and Summer months paddlers can choose to compete in a variety of dragon boat races and other events. Have a look at our Calendar page to see what we're up to.

Spotlight on our sponsors: The wonderful people at Kenmore Air have hosted our club for the last eight years, providing moorage for our three dragon boats on Lake Union. We are so grateful to have Kenmore Air as our host and primary sponsor. Thank you!

More Information about Dragon Boating and Useful Links

The Seattle Flying Dragons are part of an international federation of dragon boaters. Here's a video introduction to the sport from the International Dragon Boat Federation.

William and Kate go Dragon Boating in Canada!
The most famous dragon boaters in the world, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and his wife, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge showed their paddling skills when they took to the water in a two boat race, on July 4, 2011, during their tour of Canada. It seems that William's boat won by a dragon's head!

Useful Links

www.idbf.org
The International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF). The IDBF is the world governing authority for dragon boating.

www.usdbf.org
The mission of the USDBF is to promote the growth and development of dragon boating in the U.S. for fitness, recreation, and team building at all levels of competition. The USDBF consists of four regional entities across the United States.

www.pdbausa.org
Pacific Dragon Boat Association USA is a West Coast Dragon Boating resource, whose mission is to promote the sport of dragon boat racing and foster national and international dragon boat competition. They are part of the USDBF, representing the Western region of the United States.

www.atlakeunionpark.org
A great site and calendar of what's happening at Seattle's Lake Union Park, including all Seattle Flying Dragon practices. Lake Union Park hosts activities year-round and best of all, most activities are free and open to all ages.

www.acsm.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=ACSM_Fit_Society_Page
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) News & Publication Page. ACSM is the largest sports medicine and exercise science organization in the world. Their web site has a lot of educational information that is based on science and medicine, rather than fads or fallacy.

Latest News:

Race in Dragon Boats; Compete in Taiwan!

The Seattle Flying Dragon Boat Club is seeking volunteers to join a dragon boat racing team representing the City of Seattle in Kaohsiung, Taiwan in mid-June 2013 and/or to compete in local and regional dragon boat races through the year.

The club will review volunteer applications and select 40 members. Team members must have paddling, rowing, biking, swimming or other competitive experience, be physically fit and able to paddle 600 to 800 meters. Minimum age is 18. Team tryouts and practices will be held at Lake Union Park in Seattle two days a week during April and May.

This team’s international race will take place in Kaohsiung, Taiwan in mid-June where the team will represent the City of Seattle and Seattle/Kaohsiung Sister City Association. Paddlers will pay their own round-trip airfare at reduced group rates (est. $1500-$1700), however all meals and lodging in 4-star hotels while in Taiwan are fully provided.

Interested in paddling closer to home this year? Please know that our Club competes in 8-10 local and regional races from May through October. You’re invited to look into joining any of those teams too.

CONTACT: Lee Bjorklund, Coach leebjorklund@hotmail.com

Flying Dragons Announce their 2013 Race Schedule -- At a Glance:

Date
4/27
5/25
6/6-16
7/13
7/20
7/27
8/17-18
9/7-8

Venue
Olympia
False Creek
Taiwan
Kent
Harrison, B.C.
Seattle
Victoria, B.C.
Portland

Team(s)
Recreational
Rec. Women
Competitive
Recreational
Recreational
Competitive
Recreational
Competitive

Flying Dragons Community Events and Fun Races --
At a Glance:

5/4
5/18
7/4
10/5
1/4/2014

Windermere Cup / Opening Day
Clean Sweep of Lake Union
Barrel Racing on Lake Union
Mercer Island Sausage Pull
New Year's Challenge!

Check out our Calendar page to see what we’re up to. And Flying Dragon Members, you can check out the coordinated 2013 race schedule on the Race Calendar page under the Members tab. You find detailed information and useful links about each event all in one location.

Our first race of the season will be a local one: The Saint Martin’s University Dragon Boat Festival in Olympia in April. Here's a video of the Flying Dragons at the Saint Martin's race last year taken with a helmet cam worn by our tiller, Wai.

Our next event will be paddling in the Windermere Cup and Opening Day festivities on May 4 – Seattle’s traditional start of the boating season, and always a great kick-off to the dragon boating season for the Flying Dragons.

It's a race to be first across the finish line! Crowds cheering. The band playing. What fun!

Lots more photos on the Photos page!