On September 27, 2025, AYLUS completed its final 1-hour practice at Corona Park at the Flushing Bay promenade in preparation for the upcoming Dragon Boat Races held on October 4th. This practice included rowers Zachary Chen, Jason Huang and Jiang Yuan Yu. We focused on rowing hard for the start of the race and keeping a steady pace throughout the whole race. The team also did a few races with other teams.
The practice started with hard rows, preparing for the start of the race. We rowed as hard as we could for 5 strokes, and then went up to 15. We also did strokes by rose, with 1 or 2 rows going each time to complete 20 strokes. We also did that for the front and back halves of the boat. After that, we went back to rowing hard for the start, and then keeping that pace throughout the drill. We learned how to start with the paddles in and out of the water, and saw the 2 teams we raced with. We did enough races to simulate the day of the races, doing 4 races. We got 2nd twice, tied for 1st once, and got 1st once. The only team we lost to had a bigger boat and more racers than us (Wall Street). After those few races, we returned to the dock, focusing on technique rather than strength and speed, ensuring we engaged our core and back muscles on the paddles. Overall, the session was tough, but it gave us a good feel for what next week was going to be like.
This session helped us work on our start and match pace to get us ready for the annual Dragonboat race on October 4th. This prepared us for the number of races we would participate on that day, physically, and completing hard rows helped us become physically prepared to represent the Great Neck and AYLUS community the following week. This practice overall sharpened our focus on what’s to come at the Dragonboat Race, and got us stronger, in shape, and made sure we knew what race day was going to feel like, ready to represent Great Neck.
Reported by Zachary Chen
Volunteers (1hr): Zachary Chen, Jason Huang and Jiangyuan Yu