Iowa recently has become one of the “hot beds” of dragon boat racing in riverside areas such as Cedar Rapids, Fort Dodge, Dubuque and Bettendorf, and now there is a Chinese Dragon Boat Racing Club at Iowa State.

Darrell Redman, graduate adviser and founder of the club, said the sport originated in China about 2,000 years ago.

He said a dragon boat is a long dragon-shaped boat that is maneuvered almost like a canoe and painted red, yellow and green for good luck.

“In a crew of 21, there are 18 rowers, a sternsman, a flag-catcher and a drummer that sets the cadence,” Redman said.

He said the race is 300 meters long and is won by capturing a flag.

The flag-catcher does this by wrapping his or her legs around the head of the dragon and retrieving the flag from a container floating in the water.

Gretchen Gliedt, president of the club and junior in apparel merchandising, design and production, said she became interested in the sport when visiting her parents this summer in Singapore.

“You get to meet lots of people from different countries,” Gliedt said. “It’s unique, and there is a lot of teamwork.”

Redman stressed that this sport is for anyone, regardless of gender or ability.

“This is a really big coed sport — there are just as many women as men [participants], if not more,” he said.

He said coordination and teamwork are more important than skill, and he encouraged anyone interested to participate.

Redman compared the atmosphere surrounding the race to a festival.

“It’s a huge social time,” he said. “There are big parties at night.”

Redman said the club meetings will be mainly organizational this semester, but he hopes to do local training at Big Creek Lake next semester in preparation for competitions in Cedar Rapids and Bettendorf.

The year 2000 International Meet will be held at the Fort Dodge River Fest, and is expected to attract 20-30,000 people from around the world, he said.

Redman said dragon boats originated from the Chinese legend of Chu Yuan, a familiar poet and emperor’s aid who got in trouble and drowned himself.

Yuan’s followers did not want the fish to eat him, so they beat the water with their oars.

Redman said the tradition has continued ever since.

Redman said the dragon is a powerful Chinese symbol. It is said to have the head of a camel, the horns of a stag, the eyes of a demon, the neck of a snake, the ears of a cow, the belly of a clam, the scales of a carp, the claws of an eagle and the soul of a tiger.

The next meeting of the Chinese Dragon Boat Racing Club will be Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. in Room 104 of Beyer Hall.

For more information, e-mail Redman or Gliedt at [email protected] or [email protected].