Enter the dragons

Coral Wilson

During the third century B.C., the Chinese people rushed to the river

as their beloved poet and national hero Qu Yuan drowned himself in a

dramatic protest against the corrupt government. Long dead and more

than 2,000 years later, people from around the world reenact the

events of that day, rowing across the water in colorful dragon-shaped

boats.

On Sunday, the first Orange County Dragon Boat Tournament was held

at the Newport Aquatic Center, bringing in teams from across Los

Angeles and Orange counties.

While most Chinese have lost hope that Qu Yuan may return, on the

fifth day of the fifth lunar month, people of all nationalities still

beat their drums and throw rice dumplings in the water to distract

the fish from eating the dead poet’s body.

The Dragon Boat Festival has evolved into one of the three most

important annual Chinese festivals and a demonstration of the Chinese

virtues of cooperation and teamwork.

“Dragon boating is an addiction, it’s an adrenaline rush,” De Lowe

said of the Killer Guppies.

The Killer Guppies, including Chinese, Thai, Korean, Italian,

Philipino, Taiwanese, Canadian and Belizian rowers, is one big happy

family, Lowe said. Dragon boat racing has become an international

sport, he said.

“Once you hear the start gun, the whole world shrinks to just the

boat,” Rebecca Nelson said.

“Once the gun goes off, you become one,” De Lowe agreed.

Howard Chen, president of the International Culture Exchange

Assn., is originally from Taiwan and has helped organize events in

Washington, D.C., Las Vegas and Long Beach. The sport is new to

Orange County, but he said it is rapidly gaining popularity around

the world.

“Different ages, different genders can mix together, he said. “So

it brings families together, it brings communities together.”

The boats, which were made in China, arrived just months ago. Chen

was involved in everything from designing the boats to getting them

to Newport Beach. He donated more than $5,000 for the boats and put a

lot of energy into making the day a success.

“It’s worth it,” he said. “Makes people happy.”

Richard Thill, who was instrumental in getting the Orange County

Dragon Boat team together, said he just kept talking about for about

two years until he was able to recruit enough support. He joined

forces with the Orange County Chinese Cultural Club, and in the end,

14 teams participated.

But Thill said it’s not the numbers that matter.

“So long as people are having fun and people are smiling, that’s

success,” he said. “That’s most important.”

Team Eagle, made up of Orange County U.S. Postal Workers, started

with a flier sent out by Richard Maher.

“I thought, I’m sure out of 10,000 employees, we can pull 20

together to make a team,” Maher said. “And the Eagles were hatched.”

Postal Worker Jim Warren said the team started practicing only two

months ago. Already they had a team T-shirt and wore fake dragon

tattoos on their necks.

“When we first started off, all of our paddles were out of sync,

there was paddle hitting, and people were getting tired half way

through,” Warren said. “But as you go on, you build unison.”

The team spirit goes beyond the boat, he said. Other teams jumped

it to help Team Eagle get started.

“In dragon boating, there are no losers, it fosters a team

effort,” he said. “Everyone helps everyone else out.”

As employees of ViewSonic began sponsoring and competing in the

Long Beach races, Dean Nusbaum said the feeling of camaraderie

filtered into all levels of the corporation.

“It has caused people to come together who would not normally

interact,” he said. “Someone working in the warehouse can interact

with a legal attorney or the vice president.”

Most Dragon boat rowers said they got recruited by someone they

know. It happened to Matt Carter about three years ago. When he moved

from Portland, Oregon to Newport Beach, he said one of the first

things he did was to look for a new team.

“The dragon boat is an individual effort within a team -- you work

on yourself and create synergy,” he said. “I think many eastern

philosophies share that idea. In Buddhism, you work on oneself to

benefit society.”

The Orange County team is new which makes it unique, Carter said.

“We have a real range of abilities, experience levels, not to

mention cultures,” he said. “We are not bound by an employer or an

organization, we are the organization.

Offering opportunities for socializing, staying active, traveling

and networking, rowing has become part of his lifestyle, Carter said.

“I’ll keep doing it,” he said. “If I leave here, I’ll find another

team in another city.”

* CORAL WILSON is the news assistant and may be reached at (949)

574-4298 or by e-mail at coral.wilson@latimes.com.