Victoria Chang

“I heard about dragon boat as a sport when I came to university. In 2018, I met the team at the clubs’ fair; they seemed like a very fun bunch and I felt like I could fit right in. I wanted to be part of a supportive team that encouraged growth and competitiveness. Their off-season dryland practices may be physically challenging, but their contagious goofiness made me want to come back! So, I have been going ever since.

After my first paddling season, I became a dryland trainer. While learning to coach, I have seeked to bring that same experience I had to others.

My most memorable story was when I was rostered for the Waterloo high-performance team. Despite having poor test scores as I was extremely new, they wanted me to be part of the team. Within a few months, we competed at the 2018 Club Crew World Championships in Szeged and took home 2 golds and 2 bronze. Through dragon boat, I learned not to second-guess myself and think I’m not good enough; instead, I remember that anything is possible if you just have the courage to try.”

[Victoria Chang 張柔中 (Waterloo, ON, Canada), paddler on True Grit U24 and UWDBC.]

070