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Welcome to the former HRC Happy Dragon site. Cait Pomeroy thought it would be nice if members of the Houston Rowing Club would participate in a Dragon boat race. Our first practice was Saturday, September 10, 2005 when Jeff Campbell of USA Dragon Boating came to town for a day of professional instruction. We paddled in a heavy rain for an hour. Our final roster was finished the day before our first race, October 22, 2005 at the Second Gulf Coast International Dragon Boat Regatta sponsored by the Texas Dragon Boat Association. With thirteen woman and six men, we placed third in the Premier Open Division Finals. We salute our honorable competitors, the San Francisco Dragon Warriors and the San Francisco Bay Area Dragons. To our surprise, since the Dragon Warriors and the Bay Area Dragons were from out of the region, actually we were the Central Division Mixed team champions and were qualified to go to the International Club Crew Championship the next year. Since we were a new team, we decided it would be wise to let the Dragon Warriors go in our place. But, we had a great time, and learned a lot. Here's a few pictures.
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Dragon Boat racing is an
ancient sport that was revived in the mid 20th century and its
popularity has spread around The U. S. is divided into the Eastern, Midwest (Central) and Western regions. The Greater Houston Texas area is located in the Central Region and at that did time not have a full time Dragon Boat program. In June 2006 the Houston Heat year round team was formed and mentors other groups. In October 2006 the Pink Phurree (Breast Cancer Survivors) and the Blind Fury (Blind and vision impared) entered their first competition. Many former Happy Dragons joined the Houston Heat team and are fulfilling the desire to compete and to help the sport grow. Dragon Boat racing has caught on in Texas with teams organizing in Austin and Dallas. Each year there are at least four racing events, with two in Houston. Ex-Happy Dragon paddler David Pomeroy is now providing his coaching skills to the Pink Phurree as well as paddling for Continental Airlines (back to back gold champions). And ex-Happy Dragon paddlers Cait Pomeroy and Tony Dial are racing kayaks. They prefer 100 mile races over 500 meter races.
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8.27.08
the world. Major competitions are held
in Asia, Europe and Canada. The United States is a late comer
to the sport and is striving to develop its program.