Joe Lee

“I first got into dragon boat in the summer of 2012 after graduating high school. My friend, who was one of the captains of our high school team at the time, had been trying to get me to come out and try the sport for some time. I eventually decided to give it a try since I had nothing better to do during the summer and it would be something to keep me active. Being an extrovert, dragon boat was also a great way for me to be around others.

One of my favorite memories is placing 1st overall in both 500m and 200m at the Long Beach Spring Race with UCIDB in 2016. For the final of the 500m races, it was a rematch between the California college teams. We placed 2nd at College Cup and 3rd in College Div at the San Diego race that season and we wanted to win this one so badly. I remember crossing the finish line and hearing one of my teammates shouting out of excitement.  When we got off the boat, we all ran towards the rest of our team that was cheering for us. Looking back at those photos from then, you can definitely see all the different emotions on our faces. On UCIDB, there’s a running joke that the team always places 3rd and is forever stuck in the ‘Bronze Age.’ To finally place 1st and break out of the ‘Bronze Age’ for my last race with the team was definitely one for the books.”

[Joe Lee (Long Beach, CA, USA), coach/paddler on Rising Tide Dragon Boat, paddler on Southbreeze Dragon Boat, ex-paddler on Los Angeles Racing Dragons (LARD) & UC Irvine Dragon Boat (UCIDB).]

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