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September 12, 2013

Paddling to the sound of a different drummer

Psychiatry faculty member Natacha DeGenna trains for dragon boat racing in an outrigger canoe on Pittsburgh’s rivers.

Psychiatry faculty member Natacha DeGenna trains for dragon boat racing in an outrigger canoe on Pittsburgh’s rivers.

As a graduate student pursuing a degree in developmental psychology at Concordia University in Montreal, Natacha DeGenna took up dragon boat racing as a way to get active, meet new people and, she says, “to take my mind off my dissertation woes.”

Now a faculty member in Pitt’s Department of Psychiatry who conducts research on teen mothers and substance abuse, DeGenna still paddles — to counteract the effects of a sedentary job and “to take my mind off anything stressful,” she says.

Today she is among the world’s best dragon boat racers, having returned from the World Nations Championships in Hungary last month with four medals she won as part of a U.S. senior women’s team.

Dragon boats essentially are very large canoes, weighing in at about 700 pounds and measuring some 40 feet in length from the ornately carved dragon’s head at the bow to the dragon tail at the stern. A team typically is made up of 20 paddlers seated in pairs, a drummer who keeps the rhythm, and a steersperson at the stern. Races range from a “crazy” 200-meter head-to-head sprint to a circular 2,000-meter race that features a staggered start — slowest boat first — to add the elements of chasing and passing.

“We are a true sprint sport,” she says, “Most races are just a couple of minutes long.”

And paddling dragon boats is nothing like rowing, she says. While rowers skim across the water, dragon boat competition is furious, fast and intense. “It’s like rugby versus ballet,” she says.

The U.S. senior women’s team awaits the start of a race at the International Dragon Boat Federation’s World Nations Championships in Hungary last month. DeGenna is seated third from left.

The U.S. senior women’s team awaits the start of a race at the International Dragon Boat Federation’s World Nations Championships in Hungary last month. DeGenna is seated third from left.

DeGenna’s four medals from Hungary — silver in the 200-meter and 2,000-meter races and bronze in the 500-meter and 1,000-meter races — weren’t her first. She competed in the 2009 World Nations Championships in Prague, winning silver medals in the 200-meter, 500-meter, 1,000-meter and 2,000-meter races as part of the U.S. premier women’s team, and in Tampa in 2011, where she won silver medals in the 1,000-meter and 2,000-meter races and bronze medals in the 200-meter and 500-meter races as part of the U.S. senior mixed team.

DeGenna, who first paddled with a recreational team in Montreal, said she found her passion for racing when she felt the adrenaline rush that accompanied her first competition. “It’s so fun to go fast.”

Generally not a competitive person, she admits that her low-key demeanor vanishes when she races. “I cannot stand to lose,” she says. “I want to be in the boat. I want the team to win.”

She paddles locally with the Pittsburgh Paddlefish at the Three Rivers Rowing Association and at the national level with the Philadelphia Dragon Boat Association.

Dragon boating gave her a built-in entree into a social life when she came to Pittsburgh in 2006 as a postdoc. With no family or friends in the area, she arrived knowing no one, and having only conversed with her mentor by phone. “But I knew there were dragon boat teams,” she said.

And she has begun seeking out dragon boaters to train with when she travels to academic conferences. She’s connected with groups in Seattle and Austin. “Definitely you meet people that way,” she says.

Dragon boat racing, which has its roots in ancient Chinese culture, has grown in popularity since the 1970s and now encompasses millions of participants worldwide, including 90,000 in the United States and Canada, according to its governing body, the International Dragon Boat Federation.

DeGenna, 44, doesn’t consider herself particularly gifted athletically. “A lot of people could do it,” she says, attributing her success in the sport to determination: training hard, being fit and learning good technique.

DeGenna’s place on the U.S. senior A women’s division team, made up of women over the age of 40, was secured through hours of training, including a week-long training camp in Tampa in spring, followed by two weekends of time trials in Philadelphia.

Speed is important, and time trials are the primary determinant for being selected for the team. But technique and experience matter, too, because the paddlers’ motions need to be perfectly synchronized.

Her individual training includes paddling five or six days a week in her own outrigger canoe on the Allegheny or Ohio rivers — on her own or with a training partner — plus some running, weightlifting and working out on an indoor rowing machine.

Some days on the river are idyllic, paddling past herons, river otters and fish jumping alongside the boat. Other days might bring cold rain, blistering sun, callused hands and wet feet.

“There are days when you don’t feel like doing it,” she says. “But it’s definitely worth it when you get to go to Worlds.”

World competitions are held each year, alternating between club team competitions in even years and national team competitions in odd years. Next year’s Club Crew World C shampionships will be held in Ravenna, Italy, with the next World Nations Championships set for 2015 in Welland, Ontario.

“There’s something big internationally every year to plan my vacation around,” she says. “I don’t take exotic vacations. I go nice places — but in the context of paddling.”

She admits it may seem crazy to spend time and money on training camps and out-of-town practices, “but it makes me happy,” she says.

“I know it’s not everyone’s idea of a relaxing vacation, going somewhere to race, when you have to watch what you eat and drink and make sure to get plenty of rest,” she admits.

Racing involves a lot of hurry up and wait, which allows time for socializing with teammates and competitors. “Everyone’s so friendly,” she says. “Where else in life do you meet all kinds of people? Working in academia, you meet academics. With paddling, it’s people from all walks of life,” she says. “A big Ukrainian guy, and me. It’s something you can have in common with a total stranger.”

Racing itself isn’t expensive, DeGenna says. When teams travel for competition, race organizers provide the boats. “You just show up and paddle,” she says, adding that all that’s needed are a paddle and a butt pad to cushion the dragon boat’s hard wooden seats.

The bulk of the cost comes in the time commitment and travel expenses. “You go all that way for 10 minutes of racing,” she says.

“You have to love it. There’s no glory in it. It’s a weird sport.”

DeGenna, second from right, and her teammates marched through downtown Szeged, Hungary, as part of the IDBF World Nations Championships’ opening ceremonies.

DeGenna, second from right, and her teammates marched through downtown Szeged, Hungary, as part of the IDBF World Nations Championships’ opening ceremonies.

—Kimberly K. Barlow

Filed under: Feature,Volume 46 Issue 2

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