This is the first time the USA Head Coach will participate in a camp, he has run one day clinics in the past but not a camp. Offers a chance to get a different perspective on paddling as team USA has a bit of a different style (more outrigger/marathon based)than most Canadian teams. Should be appealing to US paddlers who are interested in seeing what it take to get to the next level.


Week One - Announcing a new week of Spring Training in Tampa, March 28th - April 2nd! This training camp will be held parallel to the Team USA Training Camp run by Team USA Head Coach, Bob McNamara. The camp will be at the Chase Suites Hotel, and there are 80 spaces available for registration. Registration fee is $350 per person. The camp features the Rocky Point Dragon Boat Festival at the end of the week on Saturday, April 2nd!

Week Two - The popular Tampa Festival Spring Train & Race Camp is back for a 4th year at the Chase Suites Hotel from April 25th - April 30th. Registration fee is $350 per person. This training week ends with team entry to the Tampa Bay International Dragon Boat Races on April 30th! Mark your calendar and stay tuned for registration details.

Hotel rooms for both camps can be booked now by calling the Chase Suites directly at: 877-433-9644

The Chase Suites offers a complimentary breakfast buffet daily as well as complimentary beverages and snacks Mon - Thu in the evening!
Each of the villa-like suites features a full-size, fully-equipped kitchen, large work desk, high-speed internet access, and plenty of space to relax.
Studio Suites are single level accommodations with a king, queen, or two double beds.

Two-bedroom Suites are bi-level accommodations featuring two separate bedrooms, each with a king bed and private bath.

WTF? I thought Blundetto was the USA head coach!?

As an American paddler, I am embarrassed by the style that McNamara teaches. The USA does well because the paddlers are good - despite the stroke McNamara teaches them.

Another McNamara vs. Blundetto thread.

Who will win!!!

Was Macnamara coaching the opens team in 2007. Agreed their style is unusual but then look around the world and everything is unusual to someone who hasn't tried it before.

Canadians look bizarre with that FCRCC style but it works - China with half blade strokes are breaking every rule in the book yet are amazingly fast too.

You can come up with every bad technique theory in the book and you can also find a crew that is using it as an element of their stroke and has won medals at world level.

"As an American paddler, I am embarrassed by the style that McNamara teaches. The USA does well because the paddlers are good - despite the stroke McNamara teaches them."

So they would be better with your technique? Given the success of Team USA it would be interesting to hear more.

Beyond Team USA, we know that Philly uses the same technique and has dominated the American scene with it. As an American are you saying you have the right technique but not the paddlers to compete with them? Do your fellow paddlers know you think they are the problem, that the reason they lose is because they are not "good" paddlers? Is there something special about a Philly paddler you don't have in your area?

Wow, that guy solved it all folks. I am glad he posted that comment or else we would all be sitting here wondering how does Philly do it? "they are good because they have good paddlers.... really? no ***t. you are only as good as the last performance.

I wish I could make it. Would be good to preview the course for Worlds and a great kick off for the season. Damn work! why do I have to work for a living? Somebody said that if I were French I would have 3 months off every year!

for the Worlds.
Yeeah baby.

You have to be blind and deaf the last decade not to notice, just look at the results Baby, the international accomplishments speak for themselves.

Could there be any more competition for camps this year?

GWN started the game but it looks like this year they have HUGE competition - in their own back yard! Jim at the Pines (former GWN); this at Tampa (former GWN).

What's next???!!!

GWN is a dragon boat camp brand established very successfully by the original owners who are now gone. Camps were always about the coaches and the direct relationships they had with their athletes. GWN camps were only successful because they hired the significant coaches. Jim-Matt-Matt-Albert etc... With these coaches striving out on their own the GWN camp brand will fade unless a whole new market of purely recreational participants comes to pass.

I agree and disagree. The camp business is regulated not only by coaches by availability of equipment. In the past there was not allot of boats in Florida and they had to be hauled down by whoever was running the camps. Now there is plenty of equipment all over the place in Florida and coaches simply need to call down and arrange for rental boat time with the local clubs in Miami, Tampa or Orlando. This will make the club level experience much less expensive since they already have their own coaches who can establish relationships with Florida based clubs who in turn need quality coaches.

I have spent the last 2 years using the False Creek A-Frame stroke.

This year I will be doing PDBA / MacNamara stroke as I will be trying out for Bob's team and our club is transitioning from the full A-frame to more of a drop shoulder / outrigger technique.

Seems like I'll be getting both sides of the discussion full on...

I think its quite clear that no technique is better than another necessarily. The decisive factor is whether you get everyone in your team actually doing the same technique.

USA won with the outrigging stroke in 07, China has won with half buried blades at 100+spm...Canada has won with the A frame, each of those crews had different techniques, but each of them also had 20 people doing the same thing.

"I have spent the last 2 years using the False Creek A-Frame stroke."

The who A-Frame? False Creek does not paddle that style, you should say the Toronto A-Frame. This was mainly the East style, Hickok wrote an article on it in Dragon Boat world. FC paddles more of an outrigger, higher rate style.

At the worlds there has been a convergance of techniques over the last 8 or 10 years.There are still small difference but it is more a matter of style variations on the same technique.
In the last worlds most teams used a very similar style , except for the Chinese and Philipenes who used a very high rate , all front end style and dominated the 200m only. Probably because the high rate allowed them to "pop" the boat in the suck water middle lanes.
A few age group teams were different but not too successful , e.g. USA 50+ used a marathon stoke.

When you say they dominated only the 200m - you do know China and the Philippines came 1st and 2nd in the opens 500?

"When you say they dominated only the 200m - you do know China and the Philippines came 1st and 2nd in the opens 500?"

Ah details details, like any self respecting forum poster would care about those

World races are won by micro seconds. Being on the right side of those micro seconds is more than JUST GOOD PADDLERS. Because every team at the World Championship Grand Finals is made up of good paddlers! Being a good paddler - gets you looked at. How well you work with the team gets you on the roster. How well the team performs with you on board gets you in the boat. Your coach gets you the medal! ALL winning teams have GREAT coaches! It is tough to respect any whinner without any world medals to judge a coach and their coachings!