Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation hosted its eighth annual Dragon Boat Races at Promenade Park over the weekend.
Dragon boat racing is a Chinese watercraft paddle sport with roots dating back nearly 2,000 years ago, but didn’t start gaining international attention until the late-1970s. In American cities that host these races, their purpose is usually to promote and foster teamwork among its participants while celebrating Chinese traditions and culture.
The boats are very large – about 46 feet in length – and are usually made out of materials like fiberglass or carbon fiber. In professional competitions, teams consist of 22 members: 20 paddlers, one "steersman" who stands in the back of the boat controlling direction, and one drummer.
A drummer’s responsibility on a dragon boat is vital: they must hold an effective, steady beat for the paddlers to synchronize their rhythm to.
For Fort Wayne’s Dragon Boat Races Saturday, registration cost $1,500 and teams were required to provide at least 20 members, with one designated as a steersman – in this case, a “captain” – and another a drummer. All teams were required to attend at least one practice.
Participating teams ranged anywhere from the staff of a local McDonald’s to organizations like Young Leaders of Northeast Indiana. The Cleveland Dragon Boat Association came out for the occasion.
Parks and Recreation Director Steve McDaniel says 20 teams registered this year; that’s up from 11 in 2023.
“Dragon boat racing was one of the events we brought to get people back on our rivers to recreate," McDaniel said. "And it’s a great cultural event but also gets people back on our rivers, which is the whole point of riverfront development.”
While the races were set to be a two-day event with opening ceremonies and live music on Friday, the weather had other ideas, and all festivities were moved to Saturday.
Walking up to Promenade Park from Harrison Street took you to “athlete’s village,” where participating teams hung out under branded tents, shaded from a rather aggressive morning sun. This area was anchored by a giant, noble inflatable dragon – a newcomer to the Fort Wayne celebration this year.
The opening ceremony served as an homage to the Chinese roots of dragon boat racing, and featured the practice of “awakening the dragon.” The Fort Wayne Chinese Friends and Family Association performed the ritual of “dotting” the dragon’s eyes – this is believed to empower the dragon to fulfill its duty and, effectively, bring it to full life.
Thousands had already made their way to Promenade Park for the first heat of the day at 10 AM.
Races consisted of two boats rushing towards the finish line, turning the event into a series of 75-to-90-second bursts of adrenaline for both athletes and fans alike. Teams were not ranked by their race outcomes against an opponent but rather their collective time – meaning, if the first heat didn’t go so well, there was a possibility to recover later in the day.
In the first round, several teams finished within one second of the overall winner, but none were able to beat Steel Dynamics. Don Hall's was behind them and came within four-hundredths of a second of their time.
Elliott Lawson served as the captain for Steel Dynamics.
“Really it comes down to heart, we have a team of people that dig deep, we want to win. We’re feeling good," Lawson said. "We feel like we left something on the table, and feel we could do even better next round.”
They almost fared just as well in the second round, with their time coming in about seven-hundredths of a second over the first round.
Unfortunately for them, Don Hall's, the Cleveland Dragon Boat Association, and Shambaugh & Son – all of whom finished near the top in the first round – collected themselves between rounds and beat both of Steel Dynamics’ times. This led to Steel Dynamics falling to fourth, with Don Hall's avenging its close first round loss and taking the lead.
But it would ultimately be the visitors from Cleveland who took home the gold this year, with a final race time just under 1:14. Don Hall's, once again, came within four-hundredths of a second and won silver.
Despite losing grip on their early lead, Lawson says his team’s participation wasn’t just about winning.
“We want the team to take away that we’re all in this together. We row together, we win together," he said. "That’s kind of the philosophy of our family: we row together, we win together. We win together, we lose together. At the end of the day, it’s about camaraderie.”
Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation is already listing August 1 and 2 as the tentative dates for next year’s Dragon Boat Races. The full rundown of results for this year's races can be viewed here.
