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Paddling to an Asian beat

The rhythms of drums and paddles come together in the first Dragon Boat Festival in Tampa Saturday.

TAMPA - A 2,000-year-old sport makes its competitive debut in Tampa Saturday as 40 teams of paddlers, rowing to the beat of a drummer at the bow, compete in the first Greater Tampa Bay International Dragon Boat Festival.

Kevin Burns, co-owner of Beef O'Brady's on Channelside Drive, organized the event after seeing dragon boat racing in Canada a couple of years ago.

"I liked the Asian theme. I thought it would add to the diversity of our area," Burns said. The races coincide with the annual Asia Fest, also taking place in the Channel District on Saturday.

More than 40 teams are expected to compete. Among them: the Pink Ribbon Paddlers of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, CHASE Dragons by JP Morgan Chase and Crews to Go by Rooms To Go. Most are from the Tampa area.

The races take place between the two Harbour Island bridges on Garrison Channel. The finish line will be behind the Tampa Marriott Waterside. The best viewing spots are from the Marriott, the Cotanchobee-Fort Brooke Park and the Post Harbour Apartments.

Dragon boat racing dates back nearly 2,000 years to the Chinese legend of Qu Yuan. Yuan was a respected patriot and poet who threw himself into the Milou River after being exiled from the land he loved. Local fishermen beat their drums and splashed the water with their paddles to prevent water dragons and fish from eating him.

The races began as a way to commemorate Yuan, and modern competitions are based on a re-enactment of saving Yuan.

The dragon boats are typically brightly painted with the heads shaped like open-mouthed dragons and the sterns shaped with scaly tails. Each boat is paced by a drummer at the bow and guided by a steer-person at the stern. Most have about 20 paddlers.

The technique, according to Keith Greminger, co-chair of the Tampa event, is different from canoeing. Dragon boat racing requires quick, choppy strokes, not paddling. The goal is to combine rhythm and speed for maximum acceleration.

Dragon boat racing is scheduled as an Olympic demonstration sport in Beijing in 2008.

The Greater Tampa Bay International Dragon Boat Festival (9 a.m. until about 4 p.m. Saturday, with opening ceremonies before the first race) and Asia Fest 2004 (11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sat.), Cotanchobee Park, 601 Saint Pete Times Forum Drive, Garrison Channel area and surrounding properties, Tampa. Information on Asia Fest, (813) 979-9421; boat races, (813) 610-2023.