Killer Whales in Lake Ontario.
Talis Crew is proud to sit down with the NDRC Orcas, one of Canada’s top dragon boat paddling crews, as we find out what makes them one of the fastest clubs out there.
If you have never been to Toronto, you probably wouldn’t know too much about the city, beyond guessing that the winters are long and that in 2019, the NBA champions are the Toronto Raptors. However, it should be know that Toronto is one of the best cities to find world class paddlers.
One of the top dragon boat clubs in Canada is NDRC, New Dragons Racing Club. Both men and women are highly competitve and mulitple medal winners both nationally and on the world stage. Talis Crew sits down with a few members from their men’s crew, the Orcas, to get a behind the scenes look at their club.
Tell us about the history of the club.
New Dragons Racing Club (NDRC) was founded in 2010 by a small group of alumni who paddled for the University of Toronto, New College crew for many years. The original goal was to win a berth at the 2011 National Championships to allow us to compete at the Club Crew World Championships (CCWC) in Hong Kong the following year. This was a lofty goal but after a number of tight nerve-wracking races, we ultimately prevailed. To prepare for the CCWC venue’s notoriously rough waters, we practiced behind motor boats that generated soul-crushing ice-cold waves that would crash directly onto our paddlers. Days before competition, we trained at a high-traffic fishing wharf on the south side of Hong Kong Island. Through these efforts, we became world champions of the premier mixed 500m, and we were also the only Canadian men’s crew to stand on the podium at the regatta.
In subsequent years, NDRC would be established as one of the top premier clubs in the world. The club has stepped onto the podium at the world stage 12 times — twice at the very top. Last year in Hungary, we earned the distinction of being the first-ever Canadian men’s crew to win premier open gold on foreign soil.
The club has grown to over 100 members and our successes are owed to a strong development program. This year, 26 NDRC members will be representing Canada on the national team, including 14 premier, 10 under-24, and 2 senior athletes. Additionally, 4 members are part of Team Canada’s management and coaching staff.
We are as goofy and light-hearted as we are hardworking. NDRC is known for blasting music in the martialing area. We certainly take the sport seriously, but we recognize that the countless evenings, weekends, and sometimes mornings of excruciating training are only bearable if we enjoy the company of our teammates. We are each other’s husbands, wives, best men, and maids of honour. Very soon, we will be babysitting for each other too. We are comrade in arms both on the race course and in life.
Where does your club paddle at?
NDRC paddles off the shores of Lake Ontario at Sunnyside Paddling Club, which is located in the west-end of Toronto. The athletes paddle past beaches, a world championship race course, and sometimes to the Ontario Place Cinesphere, a Toronto landmark.
What does your training regime look like?
In the fall and winter, we’re focused on general physical fitness. We meet twice a week, once to to build muscular endurance and power, and once to work on aerobic capacity. Additionally, each week our coach would provide 3 to 4 weight room workouts and 2 to 3 cardio workouts for each athlete to perform on their own. Many members also spend time training on paddle machines, which are similar to Concept 2 rowing machines but for paddlers instead of rowers.
In the spring and summer, we practice 3 times per week together in a dragon boat, and at least once a week in an outrigger, which is a small 1-person boat. In the meantime, our coach continues to provide about 3 weight room workouts per week.
What’s the difference between a good and a great paddler?
A good paddler shows up to practice and follows the program. If one follows the NDRC program as prescribed by the coach and assistant coaches, they will show remarkable progress and get pretty damn good. To go from good to great, one doesn’t need to spend any more hours of the week training — if one follows the NDRC program correctly there isn’t much more training one can do without risking the deleterious effects of overtraining. What makes a paddler great is that in each of those prescribed workouts the athlete has the mental fortitude to able to push their own boundaries of pain tolerance. A great paddler gets more work done in the same amount of time as a good paddler. Furthermore, a great paddler doesn’t simply go to a practice and perform the workout robotically, but strives to work on their technical weaknesses on every single stroke.
What attributes are you looking for in a top paddler?
Physical fitness, dedication, mental fortitude, adaptability, technical competence, and most importantly, they must be a team player.
The men’s crew is called the Orcas, How did you come up with the name?
Orcas, or killer whales, are the largest of the dolphins and one of the world’s most powerful predators. They’re immediately recognizable by their distinctive black-and-white coloring. Three interesting facts regarding Orcas:
1) Because of the killer whale’s size, it is not preyed on by any other creature in the ocean. It is an apex predator — at the top of the food chain — and the largest apex predator on Earth. Its size means a great amount of strength, which the killer whale uses in order to catch prey.
2) Killer whales imitate others, and seem to deliberately teach skills to their kin. Off the Crozet Islands, mothers push their calves onto the beach, waiting to pull the youngster back if needed.
3) How do killer whales catch sharks and rays without getting bitten? They grab them and prevent them from moving. When sharks and rays cannot move, they cannot breathe and eventually, they die from suffocation.
The power of these creatures is something that our team is striving to embody.
What are the races that your club will be entering this year?
This year, NDRC raced at the Pickering Dragon Boat Challenge, Toronto International Dragon Boat Race Festival, GWN Sport Regatta, and National Championships in Regina, Saskatchewan.
At the National Championships, NDRC won the premier open and mixed divisions, and placed 3rd in the premier women division.
The largest competitions that NDRC has competed in has always been at Club Crew World Championships. The club has attended 3 CCWCs. At the Premier level, NDRC won 1 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze in Hong Kong. 1 bronze in Italy, and 1 gold, 2 silvers, and 5 bronzes in Hungary.
Our athletes mainly compete in dragon boat with some athletes who have competed in OC1 and OC6.
What are the club’s future plans?
We will work tirelessly to hopefully stand on top of the podium at the 2020 Club Crew World Championships in France.
Any last words for the paddle community?
Paddle fast, live life slow and we’re recruiting. Send an email to recruitment.ndrc@gmail.com if you’re interested.
For more information on New Dragons Race Club, please link to https://www.facebook.com/NDRCDragonboat/
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