Arlington's Dragon boat races go beyond competition to help others
As a drum beat, 26 men and women sliced their flat-tipped oars in unison into Lake Arlington's placid water, creating ripples beyond the heat of competition.
They were doing it for corporate camaraderie, for breast cancer survivors and even for a local charity. Each stroke separated them from their competitors, all snug in elongated canoes with fierce dragon heads at the helm.
Yet it also united them in a common goal: to win the Chicago International Dragon Boat Festival race and a chance to compete in the season finale in Orlando, Florida.
"It's amazing how once they're all off the boat, you can just see the elation in their faces and the sense of relief. They also overcame all that trauma they've experienced over the past year," said Sarah Demmon, coach of the Indy SurviveOars, about her team of breast cancer survivors.
The Indianapolis, Indiana, group was one of 32 teams from around the Midwest and Canada to compete Saturday in the dragon boat races. While the event honors breast cancer survivors, proceeds will benefit Adaptive Adventures, with offices in Elk Grove Village, to provide outdoor sports opportunities to improve the quality of life for children, adults and wounded veterans with physical disabilities.
Dragon boat races date back about 2,500 years to ancient China and the event was brought to the United States about 30 years ago, said Aaron Soroka, chief operating officer for GWN Events, which organizes the Lake Arlington competition.
Besides supporting charity, the races help to build team work and camaraderie as well as provide exercise and competitive spirit building, he said.
"We have some teams that paddle three to four times a week and others that are doing this for their first time," Soroka said.
While some teams gathered to support health-related matters, others included corporate-sponsored teams such as Lake Forest-based Grainger and Chicago-based United Airlines. Meet Chicago Northwest, the Schaumburg-based tourism group, also had a team eyeing the trophy.
"We compete in this once a year," said Melinda Garritano of Downers Grove, a paddler with the Meet Chicago Northwest team. "It's all about teamwork and rhythm and not really just about speed. While it is a race, if you go too fast, you can get out of rhythm."
United Airlines employees from Chicago and Elk Grove Township along with their friends formed the United Sky Dragons for the competition. But the event meant something more.
"This is an opportunity for inclusion and diversity and to be a part of this community," said Kathy Lawson of LaGrange, captain of the United Sky Dragons.