Public Beta Version - February 2026
Introduced the sport to the USA in 1983. Training world champions ever since.
The Philadelphia Dragon Boat Association
All About Dragonboats
Now in it's 19th year, our philanthropic "Independence Dragon Boat Regatta" has grown into the largest and best-run one-day dragonboat festival in the USA. (More...)
High Performance Practices
World Club Crew Championships in Taiwan – PM Rookie Practices – IDBR will be Biggest Ever
This is the team that first adopted dragon boat racing in the United States back in 1983. We've been training champions, raced all over the world and built lifetime friendships in all the years since. (More...)
We were the young champions of the 2000s and 2010s. We're mostly the senior champions of today. We've done it all and we've done it all well, except for one thing. We never put much effort into recruiting the next generation of our team. In 2026 that's going to change. (More...)
MEDIA GALLERY
We have some good writers on the team, but a good picture is worth a thousand words and a good video is worth a thousand pictures. We have those too. See for yourself. (More...)
Quick PDBA OVerView
All About the PDBA
The PDBA is the home team of International Dragon Boat Federation Hall-of-Fame Coach Robert McNamara. Train with the coach who pioneered the technique that has been winning national and world championships since 1997. (More...)
Dragonboat racing is an ancient sport that's been made new as it's taken hold in countries all across the globe. Here are all the facts you'll need to make sense of it all. (More...)
Welcome Rookies
World Championship Racing
The PHILADELPHIA DRAGON BOAT ASSOCIATION is the first team team to adopt this sport in the United States in 1983. Some members of the original 1980s teams are still with us today, including pioneering dragonboat coach Bob McNamara.
We go hard here in Philly. Our goal in every odd numbered year is to prepare our individual members to earn seats on Team USA rosters for the IDBF World championship. Our goal in every even numbered year is to win the World Club Crew Championships as an all Philly team, like this year's WCCC which will be held in Taiwan in late August. (More...)
We provide 5 high-intensity practices each week from April to September. Each piece is set up like a race and even then we take winning seriously. Organized OC-1 outrigger sprints are also available to prep for time trials. This year we'll add early PM practices for the rookies. (More...)
Hall of Fame Coaching
DRAGONBOAT RACING is an ancient Chinese sport made new here in the United States. Standard dragonboats fit 20 paddlers side-by-side on 10 rows of seats. We race in sprints of 200, 500, 1000 and 2000 meters where the difference between a gold medal and nothing is often measured in tenths or even hundredths of a second. Regattas are spit into Men's, Women's and Mixed Gender races. You can train, travel and race with the PDBA, and build friendships over decades as you age from Primer age (18-39), Senior A (40+), Senior B (50+) and even Senior C (60+). (More...)
If I only had a few minutes to tell you about dragonboat racing and the Philadelphia Dragon Boat Association this is what I'd say.
The PDBA was the first American team to race internationally in 1983, the first to win a world championship in 1997 and has continued that tradition every year since in both Club Crew World Championships and as part of Team USA. (More...)
Our Own Race: THe IDBR
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