Beginning in 1983 when Singapore presented three dragon boats to San Diego, San Diego Dragon Boat Team (SDDBT) has strived to preserve the tradition of paddling and the culture of dragon boating in the San Diego community. Over the years SDDBT has had paddling success during competitions at local, regional, national and even international levels.
When Bonita Vista High (BVH) Pre-calculus, Pre-calculus Honors and Integrated Math III teacher Marissa Rivera first saw her son compete in a paddling race for the SDDBT over a year ago, she was instantly immersed. Brendan Cheung—Rivera’s son—had taken part in the annual Lao Dragon Boat Festival as an amateur paddler and joined SDDBT soon after.
“My first experience was at a competition in Long Beach in 2022, there were over 50 teams with paddlers of all ages. My mom came to watch my first race last year. After it was done, she was already hooked and interested in joining,” Cheung said.
Paddling appealed to Rivera because of the prevalence of a team environment. From the moment she began paddling, she knew it was a suitable sport for her.
“After [the first race] I saw my son in, I thought it was so awesome. You have to be synchronized. If you are off by a few seconds you can throw off the whole rhythm of a boat, and so it is definitely a team sport,” Rivera said. “My friends always crack me up because they say I like it because it makes my brain think. That is how I work—I think too much. We have to constantly be aware of our surroundings and our teammates to make sure we stay in sync.”
While Rivera and Cheung are part of the same organization, they don’t often race together. The tournaments, or festivals as they are often called, are divided into multiple divisions which are usually based on age and skill. There are usually multiple heats—one race of a competition that qualifies racers for the next—paddlers have to compete in.
“You get placed into semifinals and finals based on your cumulative time. Races are traditionally 500m, but sometimes they do 250m or even 2000m races. Events are usually a whole day affair, but sometimes they can be split into multiple days,” Cheung said.
Teammate and friend of Rivera—Tara Zamora—has been active in competitive paddling for three years. Like Rivera, she lives for the team environment that the sport creates.
“The dragon boat races and festivals are so much fun,” Zamora said. “Training hard for months and finally seeing the small improvements you’ve made that help your team win at these events can be such a thrill. The level of excitement when you win a race by a large margin or even one tenth of a second is a great reward for all the hard work and sacrificea you have made.”
Zamora adds that when her and Rivera paddle together, she feels they make eachother better. Despite living far apart, they communicate on a daily basis to keep eachother on track for practices and training, ensuring that they give it their best effort to get the best results every time. Zamora admires many things in regards to their competitive paddling.
“I admire the attention to details that [Rivera] has. She puts a lot of extra hours and focus in, not only for herself but for her teammates. She is a go-getter and works hard. We can always count on her to give 100% in everything she does,” Zamora said.
As much as Rivera enjoys the sport, the primary reason for her joining was to do something she and her son could experience together. Rivera stated that she and Cheung have always had a strong mother-son relationship. However, competitive paddling is something that has only made their relationship stronger.
“We truly enjoy it. I am his alarm clock and now he makes it to practice on time. We love talking about it. Sometimes we are on the same crew, sometimes we are not. But either way it definitely strengthened the bond that we already had,” Rivera said.
While racing separately may seem like it would dampen the time Rivera and Cheung could spend together, Rivera states that she much prefers it.
“I liked [being on different teams] because I can watch him. If we are on the same team, then we can’t cheer each other on. It’s neat just to see him on the shore if I am passing by or vice versa,” Rivera said.
Rivera enjoys the time spent with her son and teammates, but also the overall competitive atmosphere. SDDBT includes a wide range of age groups and everyone there is extremely competitive.
“They are all diehard paddlers. Everybody wants to win. The youngest is 17 and our oldest is 77. They are all very encouraging when we race together. We do not talk about anyone being better than anyone else. We all have a baseline and we are going to build eachother up,” Rivera said. “It has been like a breath of fresh air.”
Rivera’s next few races take place in the next three weeks over fall break. She will be going to Foster City for the San Francisco race, and the following week she will be racing in a festival in San Diego, Mission Bay. The last one is Oct. 7 in LA, the Sante Fe Dam.
“I am excited and nervous. It’s a small group going to San Francisco because it is far. I am really going to be pushed to my limits because a lot of my teammates and competition going are strong-experienced paddlers. I am still in the boat learning, excited to experience it,” Rivera said.
Rivera reflects on how paddling has had a significant impact on her life, both in regards to her career and her personal life. A big challenge Rivera has had to face in paddling was her fear of water.
“The coaches know that I am scared of it. In the bay if I were to flip I would probably be okay, but the shock of flipping a boat by yourself in the water is what makes me wonder how I will react. Still, I try to push myself a little bit,” Rivera said.
Something that took Rivera by surprise was how her teaching experience helped her within paddling. However, she quickly learned that she had to switch roles.
“I always turn into a student [when I am] in the boat. The coach normally sits in front of the boat or is steering the boat. I take into account everything he says. I try to remember every direction. Even with the corrections that he gave me on day one, I still run through them,” Rivera said.
Overall, Rivera looks to continue this passion for competitive paddling for as long as she can. She notes how welcoming the SDDBT environment has been since the very beginning and the family she has created within the community.
“I want to continue [paddling] as long as my body can handle it. I love the family behind it. We are a group of different people, with differing lives and ages, but we are so supportive of one another,” Rivera said. “But mostly, this is something I can share with my son.”
