The Villages - May 2008 - (Page 19)

A Daily Sun article in 2006 announced an invitation for interested canoeists to come to Leesburg to try dragon boating. The Hawthorne team, called the Dragonﬂies, wanted another senior team to compete against in area races. Mickey Jensen, a resident of the Village of Sunset Pointe and member of the Villages Canoe and Kayak Club, went to Leesburg with more than 10 other club members to check it out. “I love to paddle. I thought this would be another venue to paddle. This was also a team venture, which was really different than what I had done before. It looked like fun,” Mickey said. Mickey asked the Canoe and Kayak Club to see if there was interest in starting a team in The Villages. Enough people expressed interest to ﬁll one boat, and the newly formed team became the Dragonhearts. Mickey became team manager and boat captain. Mickey said the Hawthorne Team was extremely gracious in helping the Villagers get started. “Lyle Adams with the Dragonﬂies was our ﬁrst coach and mentor. He inspired us to develop more teams. They’ve been generous with their time and ﬂexible in allowing us to practice. They have taught us everything we know,” she said. Not only did they give technical tips about paddling and moving the boat in the water, the Hawthorne team has allowed the Dragonhearts to use their own boat for practices. Team members drove to Leesburg two times a week from January to March 2007 to practice in the Hawthorne canal, until boats became available to practice in Tavares in March. Even though most members came from the Canoe and Kayak Club and were experienced with paddling, there were two challenges the members had to learn when they came together as a team. “The goal of the dragon boat team is to paddle in perfect synchronization. This is where the most power comes from in moving the boat across the water. All our people were used to paddling individually,” Mickey said. “Also,” Mickey explained, “you can’t use canoe or kayak paddle strokes. It takes a completely different type of paddle stroke.” Team members would have to forget old paddling habits in order to come together as a dragon boat team. Mickey recalled, “Last year, our goals were modest. We wanted to ﬁnish the races without being disqualiﬁed and without swamping the boat.” In 2007, the Dragonhearts competed in The Central Florida Dragon Boat Festival in Tavares. Their best time in the 500-meter race was 2:47.15. MAGAZINE 19

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Villages - May 2008

The Villages - May 2008 Contents Latin Dancing Makes for Fun Fitness Making Graceful Moves in the Water Students Create Culinary Ecstasy in Pizzas Summer Plants and Flowers Brain Exercises Shopping & Dining Guide Retail Briefs Entertainment Briefs Major Events Snapshots

The Villages - May 2008

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