Welcome to
Pennsylvania Dragon Boat Club
bad paddlers, worse coaching, let us know if you like losing.
TRAIN HARD. HAVE FUN.
For 15 years, we've been taking athletes off the street and turning them into paddlers
75
Races Completed
5
Dragon Boats
10
Outrigger Canoes
Our Story
"Anything is possible. This club is living proof."
- Henry Chow, Head Coach
From Underdogs...
...to National Champions
2026 PDBC STAFF
Henry Chow
Head Coach, Dragon Boat
Janitor
Paul Alba
President
Assistant Head Coach
Ben Wong
Head Coach, OC
Jian Xu
Operations Manager
Roxanne Chu
Assistant Head Coach
Kristina Luong
Operations Coordinator
Kevin Heitmann
Operations Coordinator
ZY Tan
Operations Coordinator
Jack Tan
Operations Coordinator
Weekly Practices
Our dragon boat club holds team practices at the Schuylkill River every Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday morning during the dragon boat season.
PDBC Runs
Every Tuesday evening, we run. Sometimes at the Temple track, sometimes on the sidewalk, sometimes not at all if we're feeling lazy.
Training Philosophy
01. Have Fun
The primary reason we train is to have fun. We think training hard is the most fun thing to do in the world, and it just so happens we can all sit in a dragon boat doing it. That's all it is.
02. Train Hard
Training hard is fun because you get to see what you're made of. Winning is fun, but life is mostly about the 99% that comes before. It's the figuring out that makes it worthwhile.
03. Race Fast
We've lost more races than we've won, but that has nothing to do with why we spend so much effort trying. It's not the result. It's the pursuit. Race results don't matter. Nobody cares.
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 paddlers may practice once a month, whereas really dedicated paddlers may practice 3x per week.
