REACH Dragon Boat 2023

 By Meira Lee, Kaetlyn Singh, and Mike Wong

In October of 2023, the REACH Dragon Boat team won first place in the division B consolation final. The captain, Meira Lee, and her co-captains, Kaetlyn Singh and Mike Wong, had trained their team during all of September. Like every season, the team had welcomed new paddlers and returning ones.  They had practised both on the water and virtually once a week. This year, the captains organised a special practice with REACH alumni Praveen Sundar. 

This season brought many surprises. For one, most of our paddlers were new to dragon boat, so I was very impressed to see how easily they picked up the routine and rhythm of the race. Following that, we placed first in our final race. Usually before the races, I tell our team to just have fun and enjoy the excitement of the competition, but they were able to push beyond that. This success and cooperation is very motivating to me as a captain. I’m so happy that our team could contribute to REACH’s accomplishments and I look forward to what the next season will bring. — Meira Lee

​My initial decision to become a dragonboat captain was made on a whim, encouraged by fellow friends and family members to do it, since there was an open space and I already had some experience with the sport. I am so glad they helped push me towards that position. Although water practices and online practices were sometimes grueling and always time consuming, I learned to enjoy the time we all spent together as a team and in the end, after a very very close race, we managed to pull off a first place victory against other professional teams in our bracket. I am very grateful for my experiences as a captain and this season has definitely been very enjoyable for me. — Mike Wong

​My dragon boat experience reflects greatly on how important I feel it is to demonstrate teamwork and overall leadership I can provide to my fellow peers. After only having a year of experience, I wanted to share the joy I got with the initial experience with the rest of REACH and showing them how fun it can be to participate. Through dragon boat, it was a great way to share a unique experience with others as well as develop connections with individuals a part of the Asian community. I am glad to have explored dragon boats paths and would recommend anyone to join next year! — Kaetlyn Singh