Early risers might have seen crews of young people rowing boats and beating drums on Vasona Lake in Los Gatos, where one of the few South Bay dragon boat teams was practicing for an upcoming international race.

Dragon boat evolved into a competitive sport from a traditional Chinese holiday. Twenty-man teams sit in rows of two and paddle on each side of the boat while the steerer directs the boat from the back and the drummer keeps the paddlers’ pace in the front as they race.

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The dragon boat team at San Jose State University traces its lineage from a group of paddlers that wanted to continue their training after high school in 2013. After years of ebb and flow between competitive and recreational goals, the team is gearing up to compete in the Northern California International Dragon Boat Festival in Foster City on Sept. 20 and 21.

“My goal is to make the team as competitive as possible while also keeping our recreational aspects, because that’s what I believe makes the community,” said head coach Jimmy Qiu. “A community is what builds a team, what drives a team to go forward, and the community is what pushes each other to strive for more, strive for better.”

San Jose Dragon Boat, which refers to both the team and the club, has been practicing at Vasona Lake since they started, said Qiu. It’s the closest practice site approved by the California Dragon Boat Association, a nonprofit organization that promotes the sport of dragon boating in the Bay Area. There are only three other practice sites listed by the organization in the Bay Area: Lake Merced in San Francisco, Bair Island Aquatic Center in Redwood City and Suisun City Waterfront .

Club president Ashley Chen said dragon boat paddlers are usually based in San Francisco and the Peninsula, making San Jose Dragon Boat one of the few South Bay-based dragon boat teams, along with South Bay Synergy and Santa Cruz Dragon Boat. Additionally, they are one of the few dragon boat teams based out of a California State University; their local competition includes teams from UC Davis and Stanford University.

“We definitely take pride because we represent a pretty big population or a pretty big area for dragon boat,” Qiu said. “Obviously, it would be cool if there were more teams in South Bay, but I think it’s pretty unique that we are one of the main teams here.”

Team captain Julianna Ruidera said San Jose Dragon Boat started as something of an “underdog” since it narrowly became a club sport around 2022 for funding reasons. Since then, however, the team has accumulated accolades in the sport. Most recently, they ranked first in the B-Division mixed competitive race at Regional Regatta in San Francisco in May. At last year’s Northern California International Dragon Boat Festival, the team came in first among B-Division competitive teams.

Hannah Li, a recent San Jose State graduate, has competed with San Jose Dragon Boat for the last two years. She said she hopes that that the team will qualify for races in the A-Division at this year’s festival and rank first among those teams. Ruidera said she hopes to see the team get a medal in an A-Division race.

“I just want our team to do the best that they can and put everything out on the water and not have regrets with the race, and also to have fun, of course,” Ruidera said. “I’m pretty comfortable (or) confident in saying that we will at least get into A-Div and hopefully medal.”

Aside from competing, team members praise the social aspects of the sport. Chen credited it with adding to her college experience. Team building activities, like studying together, eating together and practicing together, contributed to a “super tightknit” group, Chen said, adding that her fondest memories of the team include staying in Airbnbs with other teammates during out-of-town races and trying to outperform others in a yearly Friendsgiving potluck with current and alumni members.

“We try to aim for around one social per month to form a better team environment for both paddling and also the team building aspect of it because we do everything together, basically,” Chen said.

Jacob Lowell, a fourth-year forensic biology major who has been on the team for a year, said he had heard about it from Qiu and decided to join.

“I loved how welcoming everyone was. There was not one person who was turning me away,” Lowell said. Everyone had open arms, and that’s probably my favorite part about the club.”

The team practices between 9 a.m. and noon every Saturday and Sunday at Vasona. After the Northern California International Dragon Boat Festival this weekend, San Jose Dragon Boat will go on to compete in the College Cup races against other college teams in Northern and Southern California in November.