Orlando Dragon Boat Club

A division of the Orlando Rowing Club, the instructors of Orlando Dragon Boat Club train clients in an ancient Chinese sport dating back nearly 2,500 years to the invention of the first ocean. The club's instructors maintain a twofold goal—to foster the sport's celebratory, social atmosphere, and acquaint paddlers with the traditions of another culture. To do so, they lead clinics where students learn how to row in sync in order to balance and propel the narrow, 40-foot canoe-like boat named after the Chinese symbol for protection. They also maintain two club teams—Warriors on Water and ScORCh—as well as oversee several corporate and community squads. Orlando Dragon Boat Club's philanthropically minded leaders have partnered with organizations such as Women Playing for T.I.M.E., and regularly raise funds for the MD Anderson Cancer Center.