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The 2000 Olympic course was the perfect setting for the best dragon boat racing ever by the USA. Fighting jet lag and the effects of a long trip, team USA took the water at the practice sessions uncertain as to just how fast it was as a team. An entire year of intense training had just culminated with a week long taper. Glimpses of greatness were evident throughout the year including a solid mid-training cycle outing in Montreal were the Mixed A dominated in winning and the Mixed B made up of mostly seniors finished fifth out of a field of 132 boats. The results of the grueling lactate and speed training in the months of August and September had yet to be seen. Now we were in Sydney and the Premier Open and Senior Open lined up side by side for a 500 meter time trial 2 days before the first world championship race. The resultant 1:51 by the Open and the sub-2 minute piece by the seniors meant we were exactly where we wanted to be; in Sydney, fast and ready.

The seniors broke the ice on Thursday pounding out a methodical 1000-meter heat to go directly to the finals. The Open boat battled toe to toe with the Brits in their heat with 2 going directly to the semifinal. The Brits edged us out in the heat but when the first round was over we had the second fastest time and knew we had more in the tank. Shortly after the seniors scored the first US medal, a bronze in the 1000, the Open team made a statement winning the semifinal over the Philippines, a heat winner, by a comfortable boat length margin. The Brits won the other semi and would be the team to beat in the final. Off the line the Brits seized an early lead but the US strategy for a strong steady body to maintain close contact followed by the same closing burst as Shanghai in 2004 was going to plan. With 250 meters to go it was clear that the race for first was between the Brits and the US and by 150 meters to go we had drawn even. An awesome sprint cranking to 95 strokes per minute that the Brits could not match secured the gold by 0.55 seconds. The coach was pretty happy, his men’s boat and kid won the gold. The women, coached by PDBA members Margaret Gordon and Chris Marquart, secured a strong 4th in the 1000 scoring points that would be essential for the Nations Cup.

We had been at this stage before in 2004, Premier Open gold in the 1000, and a senior medal (silver) in the 1000 and did not come away with much more. This team was different. A decision was made to rest the team and skip the 2000 mixed events as several teams we would see the next day in the 500 Premier Mixed would have paddlers who did not compete in the 1000-meter races. The strategy proved sound as we opened Friday’s Premier Mixed races with a solid heat victory over China in a time of 1:54 sending us directly to the semifinals. China had blown off the line at over 120 strokes per minute but we reeled them in. When China won the other semifinal while we were winning ours it was clear we would have to face down that starting speed again for the gold. No woman paddler from the US had ever won gold at a world championship and we were poised at that precipice, final race, and center lane. China as predicted ripped off the line but we hung close and stayed with them in the body. China was not breaking, however, and maintained the lead at the 200 meter mark. In a move that would prove both painful and fruitful, Ross called for the sprint with a long 170 meters to go. We inched ahead, methodically took a couple of seat lead and then held on for the gut busting final stretch. We had sprinted past the best sprinting mixed team in the world to win gold. The coach was very happy now as the women had a first ever gold.

The end of the day on Friday saw two textbook 2000-meter races that reflected the great conditioning and power of the team. The seniors kicked it off by bettering their seeding and taking the silver medal. It certainly helped to have Bill Heffernan’s steering prowess but the medal was earned in the boat as the old boys pounded the entire piece. Dave Hermanns, the bespectacled, “looks like the team accountant” guy who drove from NY a couple of times per week to Philly all season AND who was not selected for the Grand Masters team was in that boat. He nearly missed the race of his life when the bus never looped back but the paddling gods got him there just as we were loading the boat. The Premier Open using subs then captured the 2000 gold medal despite starting last and having to paddle in the chop of all the other crews. Two days, three gold medals, we now were looking at the Nations Cup as a real possibility.

Saturday was 200-meter races all day, the mixed before lunch and the open after. The Premier mixed was mildly disappointed with the silver behind China but the shorter race was made for that type of awesome start. In the Premier Open event, while making the final, we had to bow down in respect to the Philippines and China who both cranked at over 130 strokes per minute on their way to gold and silver in blazing times. The Brits who had skipped the Open 2000 and did not race mixed either Friday or Saturday morning scored the bronze. We thus entered the final day concerned about the extra load we carried as opposed to the Brits and Slovakia, which had also only competed in the men’s events. Coach had a plan, however.

“Sand bagging” in the preliminaries helped win the first ever US medal in the 1995 world championship, silver in the 1000-meter race nipping Indonesia by 0.06 seconds. Coach called for that strategy then and called for it in Sydney. Doubters were numerous but we were faced with an opening heat in the 500-meter races that had the 3 fastest boats, us, the Brits and the Philippines with only two advancing directly to the semifinal. The choice was to race hard three times versus twice. Katie Horn, with prompting from coach, did her best to make sure the Brits and the Philippines heard our “plan” to kick their butts and go directly to the semifinal. We had the game faces on. It worked to perfection as the Brits and the Philippines went all out finishing 1-2 both under 1:51 while we strolled at an easy pace to the reps where we knew we would easily gain a semifinal slot. The puzzled look on the face of the Brits let us know that they would be doing a lot of thinking about what we were up to; advantage USA. We paddled a relaxed piece to win the rep and were set up for the two hard races to come knowing we had not yet emptied the tank that day.

The stakes on the 500 meter race were high, a win or very high finish over Canada and China would secure the Nations Cup as the women looked sure to take at least 4th in their race. The semifinal strategy was to do what was necessary to come in top 2 and nothing more. Despite the relative rest in the heats we were still a team with a lot of races under our belt in the last 4 days. The top two of each semi and the next two fastest times go to the final making third a risky option. We were matched with the Philippines in the semi and they exploded out to a several seat lead off the line with the same 130 plus stroke rate they used in the 200 win. The stroke pair, Ross Flemer and Kevin McFadden, ran the race strategy to perfection, we hung close to the Philippines in the body and stayed comfortably ahead of third place Slovakia holding off on the sprint while finishing 0.6 seconds behind the Philippines. When the smoke had cleared from the other semi-final we were positioned with the second fastest time, Canada had been relegated to the minor final, the women had done their job by taking that 4th place, and the Nations Cup was there for the taking.

The Premier Open 500 final is the featured race of the world championship, the last event of 4 days of races; the “big show” if you will. It was even bigger for us given the stakes. We gathered on a hill behind the stands and laid it out, last time together as a boat, last race, Cup on the line. We had not emptied the tank yet, the heat and semi-final strategy left us with something but would it be more than what the rested Brits or fast-starting Philippines had left? The strategy was simple and pure, a better start, the most explosive one you have ever done to keep contact with the Philippines and China off the line, pound the body, reel them in, crush them with the sprint, essentially beating them at the end with their own game. It worked to perfection. The boat blasted off the line. Ross said it “felt like the whole boat lifted out of the water on the first stroke”. At 200 meters, we were 3 seats behind the Philippines and 1 seat behind China; GB was back not able to match our start. Katie called for a power 20 and the boat responded in a big way. China fell back a seat, two, and then three. The boat kept moving after the 20 and we drew even with the Philippines. The final 150 meters, who wants the gold more? Katie goes nuts, the “voice” is higher than ever heard, the boat explodes into a sprint, “give it to me USA, give me that f…ing gold”, 90 strokes per minute, 92, 95, up and up…. and its over 500 gold, world record time, and Nations Cup winner! Someone had champagne and everyone had a smile. Katie got tossed into the water, again. Coach was now content; all the Premier paddlers (including both his son Kevin and daughter Colleen) were world champs as a team. All the seniors who had pushed them in practice and trials and the younger paddlers who tried out but fell short were integral parts of this accomplishment.

The crowning of the USA as the best team in the world comes 10 years after the first World Championship gold medal won by the 1997 team out of Philadelphia. Philadelphia has always been at the center of dragon boat racing in the US and the 2007 victory places us in the elite few that have won the Nations Cup. The tradition of excellence in Philly, the extensive experience of the team and the willingness of the PDBA to form a true national team by recruiting and funding the best paddlers from around the country were the keys to success. Years of early morning practices, individual paddling in outriggers, rigorous off-season training is funneled into an intense competition for seats in the Philly-based boats prior to each World Championship. Board and organizational commitment to raise funds to support the travel of those who cannot afford such a trip is the final piece of this championship team, an item that, of course, requires community support.

Upon winning the National Championships last August in Tampa, the PDBA set out to win the Worlds. A strong veteran core, including the stroke pair Ross Flemer and Kevin McFadden, and Erik Werner all gold medalists in 1997 provided the foundation to build on. Much of the 1000 meter gold medal winning boat from 2004 in Shanghai was back for Sydney including Radley Spring, Drew Palavage, Gary Krapf, Ed Lau and Andy McMarlin. Rookie Kevin McNamara raised the anxiety levels of the veterans with fast times on the first time trial and became the youngest ever (age 19) to make the Premier Open team. Jody Marcon continued his steady progression and quest to add gold to his silver and bronze from 2005. The outside talent was deep with the DC guys, Andy Soles and Dan Hammer, Californians Chris Swan and Steve Sinkus and Portland’s Daryl Hogge all having raced and won World Championship medals with us before. Local Mike Viola won a bronze in Poznan and after a hiatus was back in the mix along with Kevin Humphrey from DC who was part of the 2001 silver and bronze winning boat. Pushing the above for a seat were numerous senior paddlers two of whom (Dave Wald and Bob McNamara) made the Open line up. Tess Myrie fought through inexperience to secure his spot while Ryan Crognale made the boat despite off-season shoulder surgery. West coast newcomers and top outrigger paddlers Danny Ching and Tyson Poppler rounded out the 24 men. The helm and drummer seat were a non-issue with Bill Heffernan and Katie Horn, two of the best in the world secure in those positions.