njdb-accom01
2001 Club Accomplishments
WHAT A YEAR!!! We made tons of new dragon boat friends to build on our 2000 meetings with JP Morgan Chase and NY Sting Rays!!! And in making all these cool acquaintances - we also grew our race schedule from a high of 3 races in 2000 to10 this season!!! Now THAT's a SEASON!!! Of course, none of this would have been possible without the help of our captains who worked the organization and the eagerness of our teammates to take in new faces representing guests from other teams. To all, this was a very difficult season because of the horrible attack on our nation - but thru the support of our friends, community and team we managed to find a means to rediscover our community! Our new friendships opened many race opportunities to all in 2001 and we hope to push this to more wild and crazy sites for 2002!
The NJ team hosted, "NJ Dragon Boat Race for Charity", on Sunday, October 7, 2001, raising nearly $3000 for the American Red Cross and NY Firefighter 9-11 Disaster Relief Funds. Our efforts to raise funds through an activity which embodies teamwork helped each of us as we sought our own healing in dealing with the tragedies inflicted upon our families and neighbors. Special thanks to the German Dragon Boat Federation, Asian Pacific American Lawyers Assoc of NJ and the Dragon Warriors of San Francisco for their generous contributions to the Relief funds. Visit our special pledge and sponsor page for a listing of other contributors. The club will make this event an annual one, committing to our resources to our community in supporting the families of those who perished during this horrific attack upon our United States.
NY Xtreme beat out the Boston/NJDBC/Wall Street crew in the finals of the Mixed and Men's, the Philadelphia Women & Breast Cancer Survivor Team beat out their challengers...but the real winners - all the participants knowing all proceeds went to charity. Thanks all - and for sticking it out on a cool windy day!
Northern California Races - 9/29
Maria and Richard head this crew of Boston, JP Morgan folks out to the west coast to have a blast! Some came back with medals and great stories in their experiences with local and Canadian crews!
Hartford, Ct - 9/22
An emotional event for all...but we managed to field 3 crews with the support of the "regs" and new faces from Boston Paddlers, Rhode Island Dragon Boat Club, Sting Rays and even some local Hartford folks! Highlights: having the tents in the house, courtesy of our sponsors: Aeltus, Advest and Manchester Savings Bank, seeing Tony and crew apologize to Anne for her steering manuever after seeing the lane bouy floating loose! 3rd place finish for Aeltus and 4th for Manchester Savings crew in the A consolation while the Advest crew won medals finishing 3rd in the C division. We partnered with a ton of teams: NY Sting Rays, JP Morgan Chase, Philly: Women/BCS/Schuylkill Dragons/Men, Boston DB Club, Wall Street Lions.
Pawtucket, RI - 9/8
NJDBC's two team entries came away with great results. Thanks to the contributions of our new dragon boat buddies, JP Morgan Chase Bank, Philadelphia Women & Philadelphia Breast Cancer Survivor Teams, Schuylkill Dragons and Wall Street Lions!...One team won the B finals and other the C finals!!! (Although a seeding error caused our team to end up in a tougher semi...bumping them to the B finals - but they made a strong statement with a WIN!). NJDBC made lots of brownie points with the event organizer thru our support of their race day operations and format.
NJ Summer Races -8/18
NJDBC won this one beating Schuylkill Dragons in a close finals! Event also marks Anne's first race as a steerer! Also marked the first backwards dragon boat race in the country and expectedly the world!!!
NYC Races - 8/11-12
NYC races never without some controversy...continued to surprise even more hardy veterans! Long Boat team told it could not participate in 500m finals, despite finishing 2nd in it's 500m heat (and 4th overall time)! Compounded with the bad seeding of finishing 3rd in it's 250m heat with the 4th best overall time...represents the first time in memory our long boat crew failed to make any NYC final. Our short boat crew fought out tough races to finish 2nd in each of their heats...including a 5th overall time! But NJDBC managed to field a long boat, short boat and 2 women's crews!!! Thanks to help from Boston Paddlers, M.A.D., JP Morgan Chase Bank, Philadelphia Women & Philadelphia Breast Cancer Survivor Teams, and Schuylkill Dragons.
Philadelphia, World Dragon Boat Championships - 8/1-5
Congrats to medal winners: Ellen L (Bronze: Men's Seniors 250), Barbara ST (Bronze: Women's Seniors). Also representing Team USA, former teammates: Ben L, Dick A, Newton G.
Montreal - 7/21-22
Teamed with members of Boston's Dragonfurie, Chase Morgan Bank-NY, Philadelphia Women & Philadelphia Women's Breast Cancer Survivor Dragon Boat, NY Con Ed, NY MAD, NY Wall Street Dragons, and a bunch of Toronto teams to field a 1 women's, 1 men's and 2 mixed crews! Yup...kind of a group party on water!!! The mixed crews all finished on a high note, padding well, the women finished 2nd in the C final and the Men....well, they finished - but near the pack! We all got to make lots of new dragon boat friends!
NJDBC Dragon Boat Clinic - 7/15
Participants included folks from JP Morgan Chase, Con Ed, and future team mates...included team tapings, coaching sessions by members of the Philadelphia Men's Dragon Boat Team.
Toronto- 6/23-24:
Teamed with Chase-NY, Philadelphia Women & Philadelphia Women's Breast Cancer Survivor Dragon Boat teams to compete in one of the best events on the east coast! The joint effort provided everyone with an opportunity to meet new friends, compete in a class event, watch among 100,000 enthusiastic spectators and network with almost 200 teams! Despite having met for the first time on the first day of the races...we improved with each race until we finished 5th in the International Mixed Division!
Lake Parsippany Open House - 6/2
Our team members gained valuable experience racing with MAD and members of the Philadelphia Men's Dragon Boat Team. Event won by Philadelphia Men's and MAD Mixed.
Other significant team events:
NJDBC defeats JP Morgan Chase in a tough fought flag football game at Maria & Doug's!
William (JPMC) gets 6+ NJDBC folks to team up for a crazy wild all terrain race in the Bronx! Can anyone say...we're not last!