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Welcome to
Pennsylvania Dragon Boat Club

WHERE YOU BECOME WHO YOU ARE

TRAIN HARD. HAVE FUN.

For 15 years, we've been taking athletes off the street and turning them into paddlers

philly dragon boat

75

Races Completed

5

Dragon Boats

9

Outrigger Canoes

Our Story

It all started in 2011...

A 23 year old Henry Chow had the bright idea to enter a dragon boat race with coworkers and Penn alumni, completely unprepared and overstuffed with carbs. We had 3 practices and carb-loaded the night before the race.

 

Needless to say, we were one of the slowest teams racing that day. We vowed, never again.

"Anything is possible. This club is living proof."

- Henry Chow, Head Coach

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From Underdogs...

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...to National Champions

2026 PDBC STAFF

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Henry Chow

Head Coach, Dragon Boat
Janitor

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Paul Alba

President
Assistant Head Coach

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Ben Wong

Head Coach, OC
 

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Jian Xu

Operations Manager, Communications

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Roxanne Chu

Assistant Head Coach

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Water Practice

Our dragon boat club holds team water practices at the Schuylkill River every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morning during the dragon boat season.

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Philly Hillz

Paddlers and non-paddlers attend weekly off-season workouts at the Rocky Steps. Exercises include full-body calisthenics with a focus on team dynamics.

Training Philosophy

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01. Guts

It takes guts to begin anything, especially something challenging like dragon boating where you might be stepping out of your comfort zone or facing the unknown.

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02. Grind

Keep the momentum - the daily commitment, the repetitive hard work, and the discipline to continue even when motivation dips. It's about perseverance where the real work happens.

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03. Grit

Push through to the end to overcome the final hurdles, to keep going when every muscle might be telling you to stop. It's about resilience, determination, and the mental toughness.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How is your club different?

We had humble beginnings as a clueless recreational team and grew ourselves into a nationally competitive race team.

How big is the commitment to join?

The commitment to dragon boat is as small as you want or as big as you want. Recreational members may practice once a month, whereas really dedicated may members practice 3x per week.

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Get in touch!

1233 Martin Luther King Jr Dr.

Philadelphia, PA 19131

We'll be in touch!

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