March 2010 -
We're recruiting! If you or someone you know might be interested in joining a fun but competitive dragon boat team now is the perfect time to consider it. Send us an email if you're up for a challenged and we'll email you the details and tentative schedule. We can also point you in the right direction if our team is not the best fit for you but you would like to try dragon boat.

June 2008 -
Wow! What a weekend! June 21-22 was the 2008 Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival. Both our mixed crew and women's crew went out and gave it all they could. With amazing efforts, big hearts and an incredible desire to improve (and/or win) we got amazing results. Dean, Mark, Lynne and Jeff devote a lot of time to develop a competitive team that will make heads turn. I really think that after this weekend they've achieved exactly what they wanted. People are talking and definitely noticing us. I'm convinced that we are now Ottawa's best Dragon Boat team. After a great weekend our mixed crew placed 3rd in the A cup and our amazing women's crew finish 5th in the A cup. What an accomplishment, we are all so proud of everyone! We celebrated our successful weekend last night at Fresco's (on Elgin). Thank you very much to Jim for accommodating our large group at the last minute.

May 2008 -
It's official–Gung Ho Ottawa Dragon Boat Team will have a mix and women's team for the 2008 Ottawa Dragon Boat Race Festival. May 5th was our first time on the water. It was cold but everyone had a great first practice. I'm sure that there's a lot of sore muscles. Looking forward to a great few weeks of training before the Ottawa Festival and great season of fun competition.

February 2008 -
We're recruiting! If you or someone you know might be interested in joining a fun competitive dragon boat team now is the perfect time to consider it. We've booked some pool practices and the plan is to be on the water as soon as the ice melts. I know it sounds crazy but the sooner we can get practicing the better. Winter has been long enough and we're itching to get paddling. Send us an email if you're up for a challenged and we'll email you the details and tentative schedule.

October 2007 -
I think everyone was happy to have a bit of a break from dragon boating for a few months but I already sense that the team members are missing being on the water. A few emails have been going out indicating that they're sad that it's over. It all goes to show that we are a team that likes to be competitive but we also get along and are all great friends! Enjoy your time off!

Barrhaven dentists become dragon boat champions >>
Barrhaven Independent, Friday, September 21, 2007

September 16th 2007 -
The last event of the year was the small but challenging Ottawa Fall Festival. Wasn't there myself because I was preparing for a wedding but the team had lots of fun! They raced a mix of short distances such as a 250m and longer races like a 1000m and 2000m. Great job team! They won first place!

September 2007 -
With the end of the season soon approaching Gung Ho registered for a few more events. Carleton Place being the second last one. We participated again this year hoping to defeat our title of 2006. This event is lots of fun because of the shorter 400m distance. Most of the teams are local which is great but it's good to see that some teams are traveling from other cities to participate. The total of teams was just under 40 this year which created an interesting mix of crews.

We were as ready as we could be and our first race was a bit rough. Not sure if it's because it was early in the morning but everyone felt like they could do better. The second race was great and we kept doing better as the day unfolded. We raced 4 all together and the amazing news is that we finished 1st overall once again.

August 2007 -
The Montreal Dragon Boat Festival was great! We had an amazing weekend. We brought 1 mixed crew and went in mainly for a good time. Our team was still training regularly and we were ready to do our best and see what would happen. We focused on our technique and on reaching. The more we reach and relax the better we seem to do.

It was very interesting to see the difference styles of paddlers over the weekend. Some reach long, some are way out to the side and some are quick and short. In the end I guess each team does what they think is the best for them.

We finished placing 6th overall on over 200 teams. Congrats once again to the Gung Ho crew! We're always improving and the results are very rewarding.

Thanks to Dean and Eugene Liu of Barrhaven/Eagleson Dental Associates (Ottawa) for the continuous support. The team appreciates it!

July 2007 -
After such a great race weekend at the Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival Gung Ho paddlers were pumped to keep up the training. We did take 2 weeks off which gave everyone a chance to recuperate. I have to admit that I was surprised to see how well the women's team did. I have to say that I personally enjoyed the experience of paddling with only women. I love the power of a mixed crew but technique wise the women are awesome! I would like to congratulate the women for doing so well for their first time out racing together and winning 1st place in the Labatt Women's Petite Final.

As for the mixed crew… we went out did our best and improved our time and ranking at the local festival. We had a plan and we stuck to it and we are continuing our practices to improve our overall technique.

We are always searching for new team members so if you are commited and like a challenge and your are willing to improve get in touch with us.

Next race: July 28-29th, 2007 in Montreal at the Olympic Bassin

May 2007 -
The Gung Ho Ottawa Dragon Boat Team training is well underway. We've been on the water since the beginning of the month and so far I have to admit that we are all very excited for this season. By recruiting many paddlers with years of experience has made it really easy to teach everyone the Gung Ho technique.

New this year is the Gung Ho womens team. We had so many girls interested in joining the mixed boat that we decided to take the extra girls and create an all womens boat. Our coaches have been really impressed with our progress up to date. We are definitely ahead of where we were at this time last year.

We are all very pumped to see where our few weeks of practices will bring us. The plan is to race boat teams for the Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival and the mixed at the Montreal Dragon Boat Festival. The Ottawa race dates are June 23-24, 2007 so check back soon to see our race results and pictures of the latest event.

January 2007 -
Looking for a challenge or looking to get in shape for the summer? Consider dragon boat racing it's becoming more and more popular all over the world and especially in Ottawa, Ontario where we have great bodies of water to practice on.

With a great coach that develops a really though workout I promise you will get in shape. If you're interested send me an email and I will send you more details. The season normally starts in March with a few indoor practices and we get back on the water in May. (Read below for past stories)

September 2006 -

GUNG HO DRAGON BOAT TEAM RACE RESULTS FROM SEPT. 9TH, 2006
Event - Carleton Place Fall 400m races: Race 1 - 1:45.00, Race 2 - 1:47.00, Race 3 - 1:49.00 and 1:47.00 for the Championship final.

We had an amazing day of racing and finished in 1st place on 40 teams.

June 2006 -
With all the long hours I spend on projects I need something to get me moving and active. Dragon boat racing is one of the many activities I participate in.

If you don't know much about the sport I've included a few pictures to give you an idea of what it's like. It's a lot of fun and burns many calories which is exactly what I need when most of my time is spent sitting at a computer.

Although I have to admit that a dragon boat seat is not much more comfortable than an office chair. Most of us use a garden knee pad for our bum to absorb the shock of reaching so far when we paddle.

The picture above is a front view of our team is a race at the Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival. On a team there's 22 people, 1 caller/drummer at the front, a steersperson at the back and 20 paddlers.

This is a side view of a few of the paddlers, it gives you an idea of how you have to reach although this is not the best picture. Our team has improved a lot since then, our reach is much better!

An example of a race… it can be very close at times, a matter of seconds.

I would personally like to congratulate all the members of the GUNG HO team, we've come a long way since our pool practices last March. With less than 20 practices under our belts we've done a great job!

Our result for the Ottawa Festival was 2:07 for Saturday placing us 6th on 190 teams. Sunday we ranked 15th overall with a time of 2:07:28.

July 22-23, 2006, the team traveled to Montreal for the 11th International Dragon Boat Race Festival and it was a great experience. Our best race was timed at 2:13.07 placing us 23rd on about 160 teams. Considering that paddling in the Olympic Basin feels like moving in thick molasses we did amazingly well.

Next race is September 9th, 2006 at the Carleton Place Dragon Boat Festival.

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