Member Testimonials
Let’s hear from some of our Bucks Dragon Boat members:
“I love being a member of Bucks County Dragon Boat Association. I have made so many great friends during my 6 years as a member. I love competing and being part of a team. It’s so much fun practicing every week with these amazing, strong, and dedicated women. Competitions are so exciting and winning and bringing home metals makes it even more special. The organization always focuses on the team and coaches love teaching and making us better paddlers. Love my team!!!”- Gail Yamin
“At Bucks Dragon Boat, I am surrounded by the finest kinds of people: ones who work hard, and play hard, and support one another both on and off the boat. Off the boat, we are nurses, lawyers, daycare workers, janitors and retired grandparents, but on the boat we are simply one collective unit, all working together to move the boat faster. It’s magical how paddling together makes us united in spirit. I wouldn’t trade my dragon family for anything in the world. At my age, there are not many places where you can find a place to compete, together, in a group like this. There is something about being on the boat with 19 other people, putting paddles in together in sync, dragging them through the water, and carrying the boat forward with the force of our strokes, that makes this sport feel magnificent. An hour of doing this makes me so exhausted, that I’m barely able to stand when I come off the boat. But, I look around at the end of practice, and I can see that we are all feeling exhilarated with our efforts. That shared feeling is what keeps me coming back time after time.” -Christine Kerrigan
“My life was great before dragon boating. I was asked to be on a community team through work. I loved it the second the paddle made contact with the water. Our team won first place in the second heat. We joked and said we were the winners of the losers. Our work team continued to compete every year. For the next three years I looked forward to competing again and longed for crossing the finish first. One year a friend pushed me to get more serious and we joined BCDBA. Again, my life was great but the water and the people I met along the way made it better. Then 2020 it all fell apart and dragon boating stopped too. I kept working out and running and dreaming of our team and what we could do on the water once given the chance. As I left my job of almost 10 years and faced challenges I never could have dreamed of, It kept me moving forward. My team is my water family. We paddle together and we stick together. We are all stronger together. I am one person and I am a beast but with my team we are a force. When we paddle together and get really moving, nothing can stop us.” -Christy Murphy
“Bucks Dragon Boat Club has opened a new world for me filled of possibilities, friendships, camaraderie and ever lasting positive memories. You don’t only become a member of the club, you become family.” -Heydi Lynch
“Anyone who knows me knows that the sport of dragon boating is my life. It is something that I loved from the second I sat in a dragon boat. In 2012 I co-founded Bucks Dragon Boat and it has been a wild ride ever since. Our membership has grown over the years and we have introduced this sport to hundreds and hundreds of people. Our teams are known locally, nationally and internationally and I am proud to paddle alongside the best men & women in this sport. The friendships I have made are priceless, the memories are everlasting and I am happy I get to share all of this with my husband, Chris. We have traveled to places to compete that we never thought we would travel to and truly have made Bucks Dragon Boat an enormous part of our lives.” -Jacquelyn Wetzel