Mountain View Dragonboat

“And in first place, in the highest division ...with a time of two minutes and eighteen seconds, we have Mountain View Dragonboat!” Everyone roared with complete euphoria with tears of joy running down their faces. I was completely satisfied knowing that all the tears, sweat, blood, and hard work paid off. Everyone but us was completely stunned. We felt infinite knowing that we made history and that we deserved it more than anyone else.

This year, we all realized that this was our final year and that it was time we put forth our best efforts and begin take initiative. We knew had to break through barriers to become successful. I realized I had to stretch beyond my comfort point and practice until I was exhausted. We improved in our skills practice after practice. Each practice became sacred, it was our ultimate goal to steal first place at Treasure Island this year.

Finally, the day has come and this was my last chance to race with the people that I’ve spent a massive amount of my highschool years with. My emotions took over me as I gave my senior speech. My last year with the team that i’ve grown up with. Three months of training was not going to go to waste. “We did not build ourselves up to knock ourselves down.”, I said before we entered the boat for our final race. I thought to myself and realized that i’ve came a long way. I was a shy freshman with little knowledge about sports and social skills, however at the end, I became a strong team captain that led my team to many victories.

“Mountain View Dragonboat, you can load”. Adrenaline rushed through my body. “Boat one...move up..Boat two...back up two strokes.”, the suspense was driving me insane. “Paddlers are you ready?”, we moved to our position, ready to show everyone what we’ve become as a team. That afternoon, I paddled like i’ve never paddled before. I paddled for myself, I paddled for the team, I paddled for the alumni, but