Featured Team of the Month: OneWest Dragon Zone Canada

As part of my exclusive takes on Dragon boat teams around the world, I will just do a simple feature on dragon boat teams in the world for my readers to really think about what it takes to be a phenomenon in the dragon boat world. As this is my first post on a feature and without  much information from the team themselves (I'm sure they prefer to keep their training secret), I shall have to just base on facts that I have picked up on videos and the type of training methods they employ to achieve the level of success they have today. 

ONE WEST Dragon Zone (Canada)

This team was initially built from a backbone of under 23 paddlers who have come from all sorts of backgrounds in Vancouver Canada. they are a competitive team based out of Dragon Zone Paddling Club in Vancouver. Only in their 3rd season, they have climbed the dragon boat ranks to become of the most prolific dragon boat teams in Canada.For those who have trouble figuring out where Vancouver is, the google map screenshot will give you a really good idea. 

Courtesy of Google Maps

Accomplishments  (from their FB page) 

2013:

- Gold, Division A (FCRCC Spring Knockout)
- Gold, Division A (Dragon Zone 500m Regatta)

2012:
- Gold, Premier Open (Canadian National Championships, Montreal)
- Silver, Premier Mixed (Canadian National Championships, Montreal)
- Gold, Competitive A (Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival)
- Gold, Division A (Harrison Dragon Boat Regatta)
- Gold, Division A (FCRCC Spring Knockout)
- Gold, Division A (Deep Cove Dash)

2011:
- Gold, Comp A/Open/Women/Visitor's Cup (San Francisco International Dragon Boat Festival)
- Gold, U23 Division (IDBF World Championships in Tampa Bay)
- Silver, Competitive A (Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival)
- Gold, Division A (FCRCC Spring Regatta)
- Silver, Division A (Deep Cove Dash)

At the Rinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival

Sunny acting weird.. I think its a Korean thing

Club Crew World Championships 2014
Anyway, it has come to my attention recently that they have just recently qualified for a place in the upcoming Club Crew World Championships aka CCWC in Ravenna on the east coast of Italy. Of course, there are definitely better teams with better timings with the likes of Slip and Ares. But this bunch of people I felt were very special because of the uniqueness of the crew and ultimately most of them being Asians. A friend of mine, Sunny who was involved in dragon boat when he was on exchange in Singapore, ultimately moved on to paddle for this team when he went back to Canada. It was really a good feeling to see how we have contributed to his achievements in the sport. 


The CCWC will definitely be an exciting race to watch in such an exotic location (at least exotic enough to Asians anyway). FYI Ravenna is about a 2 hour bus ride away from Florence which is where you can find all the romance you can get apart from Rome. Congratulations again to Team ONEWEST for their achievements. The following are the race timings they achieved over at the Canadian National Championships where they pitted themselves among the best in Canada. 

Premier mixed A Final

Premier opens A Final

Time Trials in OC1 with a Dragon boat paddle

Sunny racing his heart out in his OC1

Having clocked a 2:02.35 min for a mixed team is indeed a feat many would admire because few teams can ever reach these timings as far as they have been training. Of course, there may be many other factors that have favoured them to get these remarkable timings as a club team which in Singapore only achievable by the tertiary teams. Indeed, the use of champion boats in local races in Canada has allowed paddlers to fully maximise efforts in training as they are able to race in the boats they train in which is far from the case in Singapore. Our teams in Singapore can only dream about these timings as they don't see the possibility of doing so unless they come from the few top level teams in Singapore. But what exactly makes One West so strong? 

Apart from the usual training in a dragon boat as well as trainings in the gym, OneWest has clearly emphasised on the ability of the paddler to take up personal accountability through paddling an OC1 (Ocean Canoe 1 single paddler). Although I may not have tried paddling on the OC1, it definitely has very similar benefits to paddling a flatwater C1 or kayaking in terms of building up individual fitness and refining technique on the dragon boat. I did mention about this in my previous article here. They have a strong sense of camaderie nonetheless understanding that the goals of the team are made of up of the sum of the individual's goals. 

Coaching takes a different approach in the West (no pun intended) where the coach is more of a facilitator to manage the team's expectations and apply his teaching skills to maximise the potential of the individual. Very different from that of the Singaporean team coach where he is mostly instructional by nature; whether it has been by habit or by copying styles and approaches that his previous coaches have used for him. Such is this "western" style very suitable as an approach to mould the paddler at the highest level possible. These guys have jobs and other stuff to do, but their unwavering effort and determination to get them towards their goals are deeply inspiring. 

Yes I'm pretty sure that they are not the best in the world, knowing how much other teams from around the world train as well. But this team is definitely going places and a team to watch. In fact, I am largely following their stroke style to the team that I am coaching because they have a simple stroke that fits the style of my team. 

All the best to Team OneWest! For those who want to find out more. Catch them at their Facebok Page @https://www.facebook.com/oneteam.onewest