I
think that by now most of us have found our way back home from our
racing and any extended sightseeing, and I wanted to send this out
before we all got back to our busy lives and on to the next race.
First
of all, I want to say how honored and grateful I am to have been a part
of our Khmer-Krom Dragons. It was truly a pleasure paddling with all of
you. Each race event has its own set of opportunities and
complications, and each team develops its own dynamic as the event
unfolds. The process of getting to know all of you, finding common
ground, working together has been the best transformation this season
has ever brought. With the two races before Tampa and in the four days
we spent in Tampa, we managed what some of our competitors had been
working on together, for months!! This is evident from our outstanding
results, and even more so from the very nice emails that have been sent
around this past couple of weeks. We raced against the top teams in
their own backyard, and they had a much larger base to draw from for
their crews with much less, or no, cross rostering. Yet we were right
there in the hunt in the two divisions in every heat! Several of our
races were some of the best I have ever been a part of, and as I said at
the site, that “giddy” feeling that is almost spiritual of a perfectly
executed race does not come all that often. Hardware at a world event is
hard to come by, and our Premier Mixed and Open crews earned our fair
share. Be proud everyone!
In
addition, to all of us that were just responsible for getting in the
boat and paddling, there are several individuals that I wanted to say a
special thank you to for making this such a positive experience for us
all.
First,
to all the adults (for fear of forgetting anyone I will collectively
call them “adults”) responsible for coordinating all the races we have
participated in, who has spent literally hundreds of hours creating
lists, spreadsheets, submit rosters, and sending emails to make sure
that everything we did happened when it needed to. They have made the
job easier by a hundred fold and we could not have managed without them.
Thanks “adults”!!!! Also thanks for making us look good with our
awesome uniform. I am looking forward to having my next one.
Thank
you to the Khmers Kampuchea Krom Federation (KKF) in its entirety, the
KKF Chapters of Florida, they did everything from housing, food, shuttle
arrangements and the never ending cheers that carried us all the way to
the finish line. A very special thanks also goes to our own KKF Chapter
and the Khmer-Krom community in Washington State for their tireless
support of the team for every race endeavors we pursue. Thank you, thank
you, thank you!! We could not have done it without you.
Thanks
also to those that got grabbed from whatever they were doing to help
out with the endless “what if” scenarios while we were in Tampa.
We
also owe a big thanks to our helmsmen Ken Lam and Richard Cao who both
did an outstanding job maneuvering the race course. They did an
absolutely awesome job from the first day of practice through the final
turns of the 2000m. Your focus in the boat helped bring our crews
together that much faster. The bottom line is that our ability to have
confidence in each other from the front to the back of the boat allowed
the paddlers to focus on their jobs, and this alone is worth seats in
every race.
Finally, thanks to everyone, for that willingness to be part of a team is what creates our success. Great job everyone!
I’m
looking forward to the next race. This is the best part of being a part
of Khmer-Krom Dragons finding new friends, or maybe getting to know old
friends a little bit better. And for me that means more than anything.
Cheers until next time! By: Cel
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