Fanny Chen

“I have been part of the dragon boat community for almost one decade, and if I were asked to pinpoint my favorite memory or my most difficult hurdle, I wouldn’t be able to. I don’t remember exactly how I got into it, just that it was never meant to be a serious thing. I was a freshman in high school, unsure of what I was getting myself into. And somewhere along the way, it became one of the most important things in my life. After so many years invested into dragon boat, I’m proud to say that I was able to lead Lincoln to reach the peak of our sport. But the road wasn’t easy.

When it came to my paddlers, they are like my children. I taught them, nurtured them, supported them, and made hard decisions and some crazy sacrifices for them. Through that, I’ve gained the blind loyalty of an army, and I love them all insanely. They’ve taught me patience and how to be tenacious in the face of adversity. It was always about building them into young adults with integrity and motivating them to make the right choices. Granted, I made a lot of mistakes along the way and struggled terribly. However, my ultimate key to success was understanding that perfection is nonexistent, but you can work your ass off for the next best thing below perfection.

Because of that, we have achieved four, almost five sweep streaks in CDBA, a Certificate of Honor from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, a spot on the podium alongside professional Singaporean and Taiwanese National teams in Hong Kong, a PDBA Regional title in not only U18, but also Premier, and four World Championship titles from our first IDBF Club Crew participation in Hungary. For that, I need to thank every member of Lincoln, my past and present coaches, all Lincoln supporters and families, and most importantly, my brother and parents. I couldn’t have done it without you. So if I were asked to pinpoint my favorite memory or my most difficult hurdle, it’d be almost every moment in the last nine years.”

[Fanny Chen (San Francisco, USA), ex-head coach on Lincoln High School Dragon Boat, ex-paddler on Ripple Effect.]

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