The meeting was held at Panera’s Breadworks, Waterworks Mall Fox Chapel at 7:30PM. In attendance were approximately 22 people representing SCDBA and TRRA / Paddlefish.
Larry provided the following information about National Crew Club Championship Race.
Registering for Team Pittsburgh:
· Registration forms will be sent via email sometime in February.
· All those participating in Nationals on Team Pittsburgh must register with Steel City Dragon Boat Association.
· We will enter National’s under the SCDBA’s USDBF/ERDBA membership. There will be no cost to register with SCDBA.
Event:
· U. S. National Dragon Boat Club Crew Championship Race.
· The race will be held on July 23, 24 and 25.
· There will be competitive racing on all three days. We should anticipate competing in 200, 500 and 1000 meter races. A point system is usually used to rank teams.
· There may be 2000M race that will likely not be for points.
· Racing on July 24th will coincide with the Chattanooga dragon boat festival.
Venue:
TVA Park at Chickamauga Dam in Chattanooga, TN.
Cost:
· The cost to register is $950.00 per crew which translates to about $50.00 per person.
· We will probably be ordering team shirts which may cost around $30.00
· Additional expenditures will be for travel, board and bread.
Logistics:
· There are hotels, motels and campgrounds in proximity to the race.
· Pink Steel, (SCDBA BCS) team is planning to reserve a block of rooms and is inquiring into reduced rates for large groups. They are willing to make inquiries on behalf of Team Pittsburgh if needed.
· Travel by car from Pittsburgh to Chattanooga will take about 11 hours.
Team Composition:
· We are anticipating forty or more people will try-out. The first cut will result in 30 candidates.
· The second cut will establish a roster of 30 paddlers plus a dedicated steersperson and a dedicated drummer. There will be try-outs for these two critical non-paddling positions. This cut will be made around mid-May following some on-water work.
· The final cut, which will occur at the beginning of June, will result in the final crew of twenty paddlers (12 men and 8 women) plus alternates.
Tryouts:
· Initial indoor try-outs will be held prior to May 1. These have yet to be scheduled. There will be at least 3 indoor try-outs, Paddlers will be expected to try out at three distances that are 200, 500, 1000 meters using the MultiMate paddle simulator machines.
· The first of tryout will be a closed event for members of SCDBA and Paddlefish only. The rest will be Open Tryouts.
· SCDBA owns 4 simulators that are currently kept at Lynne Franks-Meinert’s house. if you want to arrange a time to practice on them you can contact her at lmeinert@steelcitydragons.org.
· We expect to convene “on-water” tryouts in mid-April, conditions permitting.
Expectations:
· Our team should strive for 500M times at or near 2 minutes
· Rates for the shorter races will be fast and furious – expect a 45 stroke sprint increasing to at or around 100 spm and settle around 70.
· When not practicing with Team Pittsburgh, members are encouraged to challenge themselves to the utmost during their “home” team practice sessions.
· Everyone should be actively recruiting to broaden the field of prospective paddlers.
Communications:
· Tryouts, practices and other informational updates will be communicated to you via email.
· If your email changes, if you know of anyone who needs to be added to the distribution list, or if you no longer wish to receive emails, please let us know by sending a message to lmontgomery@steelcitydragons.org.
Links:
Chattanooga dragon boat festival July 24
http://chatt.racedragonboats.com/
U S National Dragon Boat Club Crew Championship races July 23 – 25
Event producer: Dynamic Events and Management along with USDBF
http://www.char.racedragonboats.com/
Team Pittsburgh website:
http://dragonboatpittsburgh.org/
Inspirational Video
1000 m. Racice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoJ4tmaOb-M&feature=related
More inspiration. This is the stroke to emulate…
Racice prep for sprint