Young rowers rise to dragon-boat challenge

Two boats, each with a dragon-head prow and 16 middle-school paddlers aboard, drift in the Schuylkill. Suddenly, a horn blasts and the rowers hunch forward in their seats, paddling in rhythm to coach Jan Cairone's drum. "Hit up! Hit up!" she urges the crew as the dragon-boat race begins.

Yesterday afternoon, about 50 students from three Philadelphia schools faced off in a series of races to celebrate the conclusion of the second season of Healthy Dragons, a program sponsored by the school district and a local dragon-boat team to help middle schoolers embrace the sport.

But for some, the race was preparation for a bigger competition on June 6. For the first time, the Healthy Dragons program will field a team to compete in the Independence Dragon Boat Regatta against two other youth teams.

"We keep challenging them to get better," program coordinator Emilia Rastrick said.

Before yesterday's race, Nicole Kenney, 13, said she was looking forward to competing in the regatta. She has high hopes for the event.

"I feel confident, if everybody stays focused, we're going to win," she said.

And if they lose?

"I don't really care if we don't win. What matters is the fact that we tried and had fun doing it. This is the key."

The middle schoolers must work as a team. To Kenney's mother, Debra Hutcheson, that is what matters most. The program also teaches responsibility, she said, because students must complete homework and other school assignments before practice.

"Nicole used to come here to see her cousin paddling, but she had never experienced it. When the school offered, she jumped in," Hutcheson said.

The Healthy Dragons program gathers students from Lingelbach Elementary, Wissahickon Charter School, and C.W. Henry School.

The program begins in March; students practice on the south side of the Strawberry Mansion Bridge. The program is sponsored by the Philadelphia Flying Phoenix Dragon Boat team, composed of women, many of whom have survived breast cancer.

Betty Soley, president of the Flying Phoenix team, said the women started the program as an alternative to traditional sports.

Danielle Williams, 13, an eighth grader at Henry School, joined in the first year of the program. "It sounded like a lot of fun, so I decided to join."

She remembered the first day as "really scary."

"I had never been in a boat before. It's fun, but tiring," she said. Maintaining endurance is a big challenge, she said. "We go really far. It's tough not stopping when everybody is going."

Building teamwork was another initial challenge. "When you get into a new boat, you have to get [in rhythm] with everyone else. But you do that pretty quickly," she said.

Malikah Williams, 13, of Germantown, who attends Lingelbach, said, "I don't do a lot of sports," adding, "I like water a lot."

Before joining the program, she had never been on the Schuylkill, only sat on its banks and watched her grandfather fishing.

"It's good because you get to meet new people, see how strong they are, and learn to work with them," Malikah said.