News
Team from Caribbean making waves at festival
Daniel Dale
Toronto Star
444 words
22 June 2008
The Toronto Star
ONT
A02
English
Copyright (c) 2008 The Toronto Star

If it was not quite the Jamaican bobsled team at the 1988 Winter Olympics, it was still a sight to behold.

Competing yesterday at the 20th annual Telus Toronto International Dragon Boat Race Festival at Centre Island, against teams from Ryerson University, Bloorview Kids Rehab and dozens of other local schools, clubs and corporations, was a team from Trinidad and Tobago - the first dragon boat team from the Caribbean to participate in an international event.

Dragon boating was introduced to the Caribbean nation by Franco Siu Chong, a Trinidadian businessman whose daughter-in-law had been a boat racer in Toronto. It was timed to coincide with the 2006 bicentennial celebration marking the arrival of Chinese migrants.

There are some 10,000 people of Chinese descent living in the country. Some Trinidadians, such as Excellent Stores Ltd. team captain Sheldon Chin, had "seen pictures" of dragon boating. But most had not, and Siu Chong's effort was initially met with responses as bewildered as the ones John Candy's Cool Runnings character got when he attempted to introduce Jamaicans to bobsledding.

"I had to get tapes - get tapes and show them what dragon boating was about," said Siu Chong, Excellent Stores' managing director. Many Trinidadians still ask "what's a dragon boat?" said Chin - but an increasing number of them now know. Thirty-six teams competed in Trinidad's 2006 celebration regatta, and eight continue to exist.

The sport is easier to sell under the Caribbean sun, said team member Nadia Chuckaree.

The 43-year-old teacher lived in Toronto intermittently for 15 years before returning home in 1999. She refused to dragon boat here.

"I used to come out to the (Toronto) Island all the time and watch the races," she said. "I was never interested in going in that cold water.

"Who wants to fall into that?"

Thirty team members - the youngest 13 and the oldest over 50 - made the trip from Trinidad to compete in the women's and mixed divisions.

The mixed team finished first and third in its six-team heats yesterday, the first day of summer, and the women's team second and third. They will compete in several more races today.

In Trinidad, Chuckaree said, Excellent Stores is "always on top." Against experienced Canadians, the team can have fun, but it is obviously outclassed.

"We are babies compared to some of these teams," she said. "We're not even walking yet."

About 180 teams with more than 5,000 paddlers are competing in more than 100 races during the two-day event.

That brings up an interesting possibility. I don't know what the demographics are like for the Carribean, but with the ability to train in water year-round, could this team be a world contender within a few years?

It's great to see dragonboat get some sort of exposure and surely the trinidad team deserved it because they travelled far, as well as the philly and hamburg teams (even if they weren't mentioned) But the papers always fail to mention the top teams who always train hard to stay on top of their game. It is consistent with every article that is published every year about the islands by the toronto newspapers.

the Star mentioned Mayfair Predators today.

i'd love to go down to trinidad to race... anyone else up for it?

For anyone interested, their big race is in October.

doe sany one know any travel agencies who would love to sponsor a team?.. i'd love to go down...

Big Fish went down to the festival in 2006, and was instrumental in helping teams with their final few practices as well as setting up the race course. The Fish volunteered their time and all the Trini teams that recived coaching or steering assistance were very grateful.
Would have been a nice little addition to the Star article.

Joel is too humble to mention that he was also instrumental in helping to set up and maintain the race course under extremely difficult conditions.

How many hours did you spend out there with the pipes and chains, Joel?

Agreed, at 6am on race day half the buoys had floated out of position because of the tide and the unfortunate choice of pvc piping as the anchoring mechanism. The course needed constant repair throughout the day. Joel, along with some fishies and locals and managed to get things straight enough to start the races by 9 or 9:30.

"straight enough"

LOL. Too true.

JOEL IS GAY!!!!!!!

Wow - I guess these guys like to travel - they are now confirmed for the Disney dragon boat festival on Oct 18