2023 Board of Directors
Laura BoghPresident
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Katie NishimuraVice President
Katie is originally from California and competed in various sports before she started paddling in 2006. She joined SFD in 2016 after moving to Seattle, where she currently works as a biostatistician doing cancer research. She started coaching the competitive paddlers in 2018 and enjoys inventing new drills and workouts. She's easy to spot at practices and you'll recognize her as the shortest, loudest, bossiest person there! She firmly believes that the best practices are ones that are both fun and make you feel like you're dying, all at the same time. She paddled for ACA Team USA in 2018 and likes attending international races that take her to warmer locales. When she's not on the water, you can find her sleeping, complaining about the rain, or struggling to reach things on high shelves.
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Ashley GiaquintoTreasurer
Despite growing up a military brat, Ashley had the ultimate moving experience when her family made the trek to Washington from the east coast back in March of 2020. Enter Covid-19. Exit all the fun. Luckily, after about a year and a half, she stumbled upon a social post regarding a local dragon boat club, accepting new paddlers. Not one to turn down a new adventure (especially after the Google Search: "what on Earth is dragon boating") and the chance to join some of the local community, she's been enjoying the exercise and camaraderie ever since! In spare time (ha!), you'll find her chugging coffee between her son's karate/swimming/hockey practices, walking the dog, trying as many restaurants as possible, and convincing her husband that yes, we absolutely do need to take another vacation.
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Carol GygerCommunications Officer
Carol is originally from Seattle, but spent 45 years in various places, mostly Colorado. She moved back to Seattle in 2017 with her husband, Bruce, to be closer to family. Looking for a fun activity, she happened upon a story in the Bothell Reporter about dragon boating in Kenmore. She checked out the SFDBC website and said, "Wow, those people look my age. Maybe I could do that!" She had never been involved in team sports until dragon boating. She often says she started for the exercise and stayed for the community of people. In addition to dragon boating, Carol enjoys getting together with family and friends, nature walks, biking, and traveling on the cheap.
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John WeissSecretary
John Weiss is a retired Naval Aviator, airline pilot, and flight test engineer. John served in the US Navy for 20 years, flying the A-4 Skyhawk and A-6 Intruder. After the Navy, John briefly worked at Boeing as a Software Test Engineer and spent the remainder of his career at Atlas Air as a 747 Captain.
John has been sailing since 1970, in dinghies through 50’ keelboats. He has owned numerous boats from a 13’ wooden cat yawl to a 28’ Pearson Triton. He has been a kayaker and rower since 1997; and now owns a 17’ sea kayak that he built in 2000, and a 15’ Adirondack Guideboat. From 2014-2019, John was a member of the National On-Water Standards Program, which developed training course standards for Sail, Power, and Human-propelled boats. These were adopted as ANSI standards in 2017. John was then certified as a lead course reviewer for the National Association of State Boating law Administrators (NASBLA), which verified boating courses for compliance with the new ANSI standards. John is now a Director of the Traditional Small Craft Association, and volunteers as a Docent at the Museum of Flight. He joined the Seattle Flying Dragons in early 2020, just in time for the COVID quarantine. He recently qualified as a Tiller, and usually paddles from the Kenmore site. |
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2023 Committee Heads
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Marketing and Events
Fong Ng |
Coaching
Katie Nishimura
Katie Nishimura
Maintenance
Scott Baker
Scott Baker
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Safety Officer
Lynelle Thon Hall |
