Twenty teams with 20 paddlers and one drummer raced against each other and the clock for 200 meters. Each team rowed two heats for the best time and the final placing in the "paddle offs".
BJACH's team, all volunteers, was made up of Soldiers, Department of the Army civilians and family members.
By 8 a.m., team members were on the lake's bank receiving some expert coaching from the 22Dragon staff and coaches. BJACH's first race was at 9:30 a.m., shortly after the opening ceremony.
After the National Anthem and opening ceremony, team captains came forward to "awaken the sleeping dragons" by painting eyes on the decorative dragon head pieces before they were mounted on the front of each boat. This ritual ends the dragon's slumber and re-energized its spirit. 1SG Norman Pickens and CPT Kimberly Higdon, MEDDAC Company Commander, painted the eye for BJACH.
Dragon Boat races date back for centuries with its roots tied to ancient folklore of contending villages vying for over 2000 years throughout southern China. Today Dragon Boat races are held around the world.
The Natchitoches Dragon Boat races were the opening races for this year's season.
Traditional dragon boat races BJACH's team, all volunteers, was made up of Soldiers, Department of the Army civilians and family members.
By 8 a.m., team members were on the lake's bank receiving some expert coaching from the 22Dragon staff and coaches. BJACH's first race was at 9:30 a.m., shortly after the opening ceremony.
After the National Anthem and opening ceremony, team captains came forward to "awaken the sleeping dragons" by painting eyes on the decorative dragon head pieces before they were mounted on the front of each boat. This ritual ends the dragon's slumber and re-energized its spirit. 1SG Norman Pickens and CPT Kimberly Higdon, MEDDAC Company Commander, painted the eye for BJACH.
Dragon Boat races date back for centuries with its roots tied to ancient folklore of contending villages vying for over 2000 years throughout southern China. Today Dragon Boat races are held around the world.
The Natchitoches Dragon Boat races were the opening races for this year's season.
Traditional dragon boat races concedes with the 5th day of the 5th Chinese lunar month -- varying from late May to June on the modern Gregorian calendar. Each boat has 20 paddlers, 12 male and 8 female and one drummer, whose drum beats are considered to the "heartbeat" of the dragon boat. The drummer, leads the paddlers throughout the race using the rhythmic drum beat to indicate the frequency and synchronicity of all the paddler's strokes, basically the cadences, picking up or accelerating the paces, slowing the races, etc.
In just three years, the Natchitoches Dragon Boat races have grown from eight to 20 teams. The race is normally held on the Cane Riverbank in downtown Natchitoches, however, due to the heavy
and flooding, the river authority closed the Cane River, so event organizers moved it to Chaplin Lake on the NSU campus.
Although event officials allowed teams to row in the preliminarily heats without the required 8 female rowers, teams competing in the final heat had to have at least 8 females rowers or be disqualified. CPT Higdon and SGT Nichole Pierce, BJACH team members, volunteered to row with the 115th so they would not be disqualified.
BJACH finished 4th in the standings, with the 115th CSH taking third place.
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