Texas Athletes
Shirley Che, Dallas
Shirley is one of the co-founders of the Dallas United Crew Delite Dragon boat team. She started paddling in 2011.
Shirley first tried out for ICF Team USA in 2016, and failed to pass the initial selection round. With the guidance of her coach (Rich Stewart), Shirley began a focused training on strength and technique to specifically benefit paddling. To maximize paddling time, Shirley also ventured out to outriggers and stand up boards.
Shirley is one of the coaches at her home team. She enjoys helping others be a better version of themselves, paying forward the favor that her coach has done for her.
Shirley is proud to represent her adopted country, USA, on this international platform. She is grateful for and respects the opportunity to paddle as one with all the best paddlers from the country.
Jackson Lau, Houston
This is my 6th year paddling in a dragon boat, after not making the 2016 ICF USA team, I have been training even harder for the 2018 team both physically and mentally. As part of my training, I have increased my paddling time on the water by training and competing in various competitions in my OC1, The biggest races I have completed were the MR340, a 340 miles race down the Missouri River and Chattajack 31, a 31 miles race through the Tennessee River Gorge.
I am excited to be on the 2018 ICF USA team and will give it my all to help the team get on the podium.
Ha Nguyen, Houston
I began Dragon Boating about a decade ago. I was in the Swim Team during my younger school years and have always loved being in, or on, the water. Having been invited onto a boat by a friend, I found the Dragon Boat combination of team work and athleticism a particular appeal. But I never dreamt that one day I would be paddling for the USA.
That changed about twelve months ago when I was looking for something to finally shake off some baby fat remnant from my two adorable sons. Gosh. I don’t think I realized quite what I was getting into.
The training was intense. Typically consisted of 2 hours of regular dragon boat training followed by another 2 hours for the ICF training. Just to keep us on our toes, there are two slightly different styles of Dragonboat paddling (ICF and IDBF), oh and two different length paddles too. That took some getting used too. Indeed, we had to take specific training classes to nail down the new stroke.
Oh, and did I mention that then there was more training! Once the ICF had selected a top tier of about 150 candidates, then it was time to start cranking up yet more. Now both Saturday and Sunday required water time and our coach even offered “optional” additional training on weeknights – we didn’t miss those! By the way, training doesn’t end on land. In between a full-time, demanding job with long commutes/occasional travels and family duties, cross training is required when you aren’t on the boat. Not sure how these workouts were squeezed in throughout the months – BodyPump, BodyAttack, running during lunch hour in the 105 deg/105 humidity Houston heat, yoga/pilates or whatever pull-up, planks, push-ups while cooking or making a game out of my workout with kids. As the months progressed, my spare bedroom became a gym area fitting my basics needs to top off my body strength. And I won’t go into my bland 5 small meals a day with zero calorie mocktails weekday program while my kids enjoy there greasy carbs and daily ice cream cones. Let’s just call that part “willpower”.
What can I say: training works. The group now hums along like a dragon fly skimming across the water, but with 20 arms flashing in unison. Never have I seen such a great group of athletes and such an honor to be part of them. We’ve just got mailed our USA team outfits and will be so proud to be wearing the colors of the USA on game day. My body has never looked so well sculpted in my life – teammates can’t stop touching my arm muscles and my kids think I’m training to be a ninja.
Kila Nixon, Killeen
An outrigger paddler I had no clue what DB paddling was. Fast forward to 2017 I attended the Worlds in China and promised my family I would be done. Started to chill, back in Jan I got a phone call from Coach Mas asking me to train I was not sure at all. I showed up once and that was it but this Coach would not and did not give up on me. She tested me in every good way I thought to myself why…but deep within my heart I knew she saw something and she was going to get it no matter what. See I love doing things in my comfort zone so this became a huge struggle but I am grateful for so many things Coach has done for me, she encouraged me to try out (didn’t like my chances because of my paddling style). Test day came and boy was I nervous everyone knows how serious Coach Mike is…well count my lucky stars I was invited to selection camp at Lake Lanier in July (thank you Lord I made the cut). Thanking all the Coaching staff @ ICF Coach Mas, Team Mates Team Hokulele, friends and family.
This training has been a real fight waking my children up early Saturdays to our 4 hour drive for training, staying at hotels so I could train again on Sunday’s then back on the road home which the drive would sometimes turn into 5 hours because I needed to take a break not a good idea when I had to keep my diet in check, (tears)… cutting out bread and rice sucked but embracing the suck was worth it. All we have to do is dig deep & “find it”.. We find our true selves when we are tested. THANK YOU Coach Mas for your unconditional love, support, guidance and your time in training, very humbled by your kindness.
I thank God for the blessing, truly a honor and a privilege to be representing USA. The work is not done until I am actually sitting in the boat to the start line at Worlds and let my training take over to help my team mates steal some seats to be on the podium. Let’s go USA!!
Christi Pham, Houston
Christi Pham is a free-spirit Houston native with approximately 7 years of paddling experience in a dragon boat. Her journey to ICF World Championship started when she promised a fellow teammate that she will join them for tryouts. To her surprise, she made first round selections.
Since then, she dedicated majority of her free time to dragon boat, and made paddling her number one over her other favorite hobbies, yoga and rock climbing.
This is Christi’s first time competing at ICF World Championship. She is looking forward to assisting in her team’s path to gold.
Cristy Rodriguez, Houston
Cristy is an avid paddler and caller from Texas. She began her journey with dragon boat 5 years ago and is excited to be on the US National Team for the second time. In 2016, Cristy had the opportunity to be on Team USA as a caller and won a silver medal with the Master’s Women’s 10-man boat.
While Cristy loves being a caller she wanted to set a new goal and tryout as a paddler. Cristy challenged herself by training harder not just during water practice but spent numerous hours training outside of the boat. Last year, Cristy joined crossfit gym BNKR Sugarland/Richmond for strength training and cardio exercises. She also trained with a fellow teammate for several months doing high intensity interval training as well as intense training workouts on the paddling erg. When she wanted to push herself even further she went on a quest to find her own paddling erg and got extra practice on her own.
Cristy is ecstatic to be part of Team USA again and is “ready, ready” to give it her all to take it to the top of the podium.
Rich Stewart, Dallas
Rich Stewart is head coach of the Dallas Delite Dragon boat team. He has been paddling since 2001, when he was 13 years old. Not only has he competed in three prior dragon boat world championships, but has three bronze medals at the international level. In addition to paddling, he was the assistant national coach to the men’s dragon national boat team in 2014 and is excited to return to this role this year. Rich grew up at the site of the World Championships this year in Gainesville GA and was inspired when the Sprint Canoe World Championships were held there in 2003. He hopes that the dragon boat worlds can inspire another generation of American paddlers in a similar manner. He was a member of the Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club from 2001-2013 winning multiple national championships during that time frame. Rich also represented the United States at the 2005 Junior World Championships in sprint canoe and competed in the 2008 Olympic trials.
Liga Veips, Houston
My name is Liga Veips, and I was born and raised in Latvia. Growing up my passion was folk dancing, and I participated in the Latvian Song and Dance Festival three times, which is one of the largest dance and choral events in the world with thirty thousand participants, and it happens only once every five years. Then I decided to put my roots in Houston, TX where I have lived for 20 years now, and I am proudly calling Houston, TX my home town, where I am raising my two absolutely amazing daughters.
Houston being so diverse and filled with culture is the home town to quite few Dragon Boat teams with several Dragon Boat Festivals each year, which is how I started my paddling journey through my Corporate Team little over 2 years ago, and I absolutely fell in love with the sport. At first I practiced with a local community team, and within a year I joined my current club team Island Warriors who is literally my second family. When I signed up for the Team USA tryouts, I started to train with the Regional Coach / Master Women’s Head Coach, Coach Mas Nash late last year. She’s poured her heart and soul out for everyone of us to become better athletes.
I am very proud to represent USA in the World Championships. Thank you to all the Coaches, Family and Friends, and this is for you, Mom.
Harry Y Wong, Sugarland
“Dragon boat? What’s that?” I’m sure, like me, you hear this a lot. I first heard and participated in dragon boating when a community member organized it as a way to bring people together and get to know our newly developed community. I enjoyed it, but we met sporadically, and it wasn’t very well organized. The first time we all met as a team was at the Regatta in which we placed 2nd!…out of two teams. You would think this would be discouraging; but, alas the bug bit me.
As my desire to expand and implement diversity in my workouts developed, I joined another team that proved to be a better fit. Not only was I able to practice regularly, but it was something I could do with my family. Me, my wife, and daughter joined a local dragon boat team and through hard work and lots of sweat, we took GOLD at many subsequent Regattas. Oh yes, redemption was sweet!
But redemption comes at a price. As school, kids, and home-life demanded attention, my daughter and wife stepped back from paddling. They knew how much I enjoyed it so I kept at it. I went to every practice possible. Sacrificing time with family and work, I did not know that I would end up making Team USA. There was no intention, I thought that I would try out and see where this would go. I am eternally grateful to the people that had trained me . I would like to sincerely thank all my coaches and people who had helped me along the way.
Georgia Athlete
Drew Deppe
I started paddling at LCKC in 2011 at age 11. I began on the beginner program paddling canoe/kayak and dragon boat races. From there I moved up to the developmental and high performance canoe/kayak programs and competed in two national championships. While on the high performance team, I learned to steer dragon boats as well as tune in my Dragon Boat paddling skills. After the summer of 2017, I began to fully focus on Dragon Boating. After many months of intense training, I was selected as a paddler on team USA. I am proud to represent my country at this world championships this year and hope to bring home the gold with my team.
Florida Athlete
Bailey Leist
I started paddling when I was 11 on our local youth team. And it wasnt always love at first sight with this sport. When I was younger, I didn’t always appreciate the blisters, aches and sores. However paddling grew on me and I’ve been so fortunate to be surrounded with people who constantly push me to do better. My coach in Tampa Florida, Jonathan Rivera, has always been my inspiration and he has made me who I am at this point. I probably would not have made it where I am today without the love and support that I get from my team back home because they truly are family. Team USA is a dream come true and I look forward to racing with all of my amazing teammates.
Washington Athlete
Terry Nash
Terry Nash’s dragon boat world began in 2005. It was when his wife, Mas, started her dragon boat paddling. Over the years, he accompanied her to numerous in and out of the State and overseas dragon boat events to support, contribute and cheer on her and her team.
In 2012, Terry was honored to become the first Team Manager for ICF DRAGON BOAT USA. Along with TEAM USA he has served at these three ICF Dragon Boat World Championships:
2012 – Milan, Italy
2014 – Poznan, Poland
2016 – Moscow, Russia
He was responsible and helped with the wellbeing of TEAM USA. Terry developed great relationships and worked closely with the Head Coach (Coach Mike Blundetto), Lead Coaches, paddlers, drummers, steerspersons and all the members of DRAGON BOAT USA. His experiences, his passion for this sport, his hard work, his dedication and patience, his easy to work with and positive attitude earned him the position for the next world championships in 2018.
Born in Seattle, Washington in July 1951, Terry lived in Singapore for eight years. There, he met his wife of 21 years. They moved back to the United States in 1999 and currently reside in Texas.
A business owner since year 2000, Terry and Mas operate a Texas Company that is involved in oil and gas industries.
During his previous profession, Terry traveled extensively to Europe, South America and Southeast Asia. That opportunity helped create a great understanding of people from different cultures and thus contributed to his ability to communicate comfortably with people from all walks of life.
Terry is very grateful and deeply honored to represent TEAM USA again and is looking forward to working with everyone in DRAGON BOAT USA.