By: Elizabeth Cherchia
Edited By: Mustafa Ahmad
A little rain couldn’t keep the SAIS dragon boat team, ‘Fire and SAIS,’ off the water these past two Saturdays. Despite facing less-than-stellar weather two weekends in a row, the mood was jovial. The team spent the afternoon perfecting their technique out on the Potomac with the help of coaches from the DC Dragon Boat Club. They learned the commands used in the sport, went through training exercises, practiced paddling skills, and kept each other laughing through the pain and the rain. “The best part is the people. Queshia [Bradley, our team drummer] kept cracking jokes and kept us laughing for the entire practice,” says Nathan Waechter, SAIS alum.
Though this was many members’ first time in a dragon boat, the team quickly pulled together and won its first practice race, though they later lost to a team from the State Department. The team brings together a variety of SAISers, some with connections to the event and some without. For Tim Feng, who is half-Chinese and half-Taiwanese, participating in the festival is a great way to connect with his roots and fellow SAISers and alumni. “The teamwork and spirit, and our diversity of backgrounds, make the team great,” he said.
The Dragon Boat Festival, for the uninitiated, is a traditional Chinese holiday celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. The true origins of the festival are murky, but one of the most popular stories holds that the festival honors Qu Yuan (340 – 278 BC), a poet and statesman from the State of Chu (one of the seven states of the Warring States Period). After being exiled by the emperor following false accusations made against him and despairing over the capture of his capital city by enemy forces, Qu committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River. The local people, who admired the statesman, raced out in their boats to find his body. When they couldn’t find him, they threw balls of sticky rice into the water for the fish to keep them from eating the body. This is the origin story of the Dragon Boat Festival’s other well-known tradition: eating stuffed sticky rice balls called zongzi (粽子).
Nowadays, the festival is celebrated all over the world, and a popular festival is held in DC every year. The sport combines athleticism, teamwork, artistry, and cultural heritage as paddlers race in ornately decorated boats to the beat of drums. To win, the team must stay perfectly in sync – any break in the rhythm and the team will work against itself, slowing the boat down. “This is the most challenging part,” explains Kat Chueh, team captain. It is a test not just of endurance but also cooperation.
On May 18, come cheer on your fellow SAISers as they race other dragon boat teams from the DC area and beyond at the 21st DC Dragon Boat Festival. They need your support to beat that team from State and show everyone that IR nerds are athletic, too!
Event details:
Address: Thompsons Boat Center, 2900 Virginia Ave NW. Washington, DC 20037
The SAIS team, ‘Fire and SAIS,’ will compete in the 200 and 500 meters races.
The Opening Ceremony will be held at 8:30, followed by 200-meter races. The 500-meter races will take place at 1:00 pm. For more information, please see the DC Dragonboat Festival website: http://dcdragonboatfestival.com/