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| About Us: Team History |
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| 2004 - Piranhas Dragon Boat Club |
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| 2004 Piranhas DBC accepting their award
for finishing 4th overall at TIDBRF |
2004 was a transition year for the Piranhas as the team
did not qualify for the "A" division in two of
its six races. Ravaged by injuries and roster changes, the
Piranhas experienced
a season full of ups and downs. The season started off
well in
Milton
in
a duel with the X-Paddling
Collective, finishing 1st in the 250m, 2nd in the 500m and
2nd in the 2000m.
However the team was not able to step up to the plate at
the Pickering Dragonboat Challenge as it finished 15th overall,
failed to finish in the top 10 at a regatta for the first
time
in
four
years.
While disappointing, the crew was not peaking for the event.
The Piranhas put a much better performance in at the
Toronto International Dragon Boat Festival where they
finished
4th overall
in the tightest A division final in years, with less than
a second
separating all crews. In July, the SRS Piranhas (a hybrid
crew of paddlers from Tempest, Hammerheads, and Imperial
Dragons)
captured the International Division Title at the USDBF National
Dragon Boat Championships in Fort Dodge, Iowa. The crew
competed
both in the US Championship draw as an exhibition crew and
easily captured the local Taiwanese flag-catching
boat class.
Upon their return to Canada, the Piranhas struggles continued
with a 10th place finish, losing a sizable lead in the B
division final to both Tempest and Jetstart. However, in
typical 2004
fashion, the team stepped up to the plate with a strong 9th
place finish, or 4th overall in the A-division consolation
to close off the season with a solid performance that will
serve as a base on which to improve in what will hopefully
be a revolutionary 2005 season. Congratulations are in order
to the men and women of the Piranhas who were part of the
National Team GTA core training groups and the wealth of
experience that these individuals brought back to the crew.
Departing Crew Members (19): Jason
Au, Glyndon Bonnick, Delia Chan, Darian Cheng, Willie Desintonio,
Shawn D'Souza, Simon Hatch,
Aileen Ho, Charlene
Higashi, Randy Leung, Denise Luong, Man Yi Mark, Moshe
Kim, Arun Nayak, Ling Tin, Adrienne Wong, Edwin Wong, Jaime
Yamashita, San
Yong |
| 2003 - Piranhas Dragon Boat Club |
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| 2003 Piranhas DBC: 7th at the North
American Club Crews |
The Piranhas opened up the season by repeating as Guelph champions.
However, Pickering did not go as smoothly as the team was involved
in one of several officiating controversies over the course
of the day. The team relegated was to the A division consolation
final, where it finished 2nd to the TTA Hammerheads. Later in
the month, the team rebounded with a strong performance in Toronto,
finishing third in the community division behind the Mississauga
Canoe Club and the Mayfair Predators. At that same race, several
members of the crew were also selected to the Greater Toronto
Dragon Boat Club's Premiere Open "B" Crew and finished
second to the Canadian National Men's Dragon Boat Team in a
tune-up race before North American Club Crew Championships in
Welland, Ontario. At the Norams, the Piranhas finished 7th overall
in an extremely deep field. In the 250m race, the Piranhas qualified
for the "A" final and finished 6th while in the 500m
race, they finished 9th overall. The Piranhas who paddled for
GTDBC "B" ended up qualifying for the 2004 World Club
Crew Championships in Capetown, South Africa but the team elected
not to attend the event. The year ended off with a fourth consecutive
Ontario Colleges and Universities Championship, but the Piranhas
were finally dethroned for the Waterloo Grand Championship by
Cartier Partners Tempest. In a show of solidarity and friendship,
both Tempest and the Piranhas joined their boats by their gunnels
and paddled to shore together. After this, Assistant Coach/GM
Ling Tin took the Piranhas for one final spin before retiring
from the sport until he pulled a Michael Jordan on us and came
back to help ease the transition between him and new steersperson
Eddy Wong in May 2004.
Departing Crew Members (14): Fanny Chon, Willie Desintonio,
Daniela Dighi, Shawn D'Souza, Shawn Ford, Daphne Geslani,
Pete
Leung, Raphael Leung, Sarah Martin, Anna Lin, Man Yi Mark,
Wayne Nguyen, Vitaly Petrichkovitch, Jozef Widjaya |
| 2002 - University of Toronto Piranhas
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| The 2002 U of T Piranhas: Back to Back
Waterloo Champs |
The 2002 season set the standard for consistency for the Piranhas. They
opened the season with a Grand Championship victory at Guelph,
which was followed by an A-division Championship appearance
in the hyper-competitive Pickering Dragonboat Challenge. First overall after the qualifying rounds, the Piranhas finished
second to Mayfair in a semi-final, ahead of two perennial
powerhouses, the RBC Royal Dragons and the Scotia Spitfires.
In the final, the Piranhas were not able to overcome the curse of Lane 1, but
they served notice to the dragon boat community that the Piranhas were ready to take up their game an extra notch.
At Centre Island, the Piranhas repeated as University
Cup Champions and made a podium appearance in the Community
"A" final with a strong third place finish behind
Misssissauga Canoe Club and the TTA Hammerheads. The team also
raced on behalf of Sing Tao Daily Newspapers in the Media Cup
Final where the team placed second to the Dragon Boat World
Imperial Dragons. Finally, at Waterloo,
the Piranhas won their third consecutive Ontario Colleges and
Universities Championship and once again won the Waterloo Grand
Championship in nailbiting fashion, beating out the Assante
(TTA) Hammerheads by 0.02 seconds. Several members of the crew
including captain Tim Insigne and stroke Lisa Fung were able
to end their dragon boat racing careers with a grand championship
win. Having qualified for the grand championship in every race
they entered, the team seemed poised for success in the years
to come.
Departing Crew Members (2): Lisa Fung, Tim Insigne |
| 2001 - University of Toronto Piranhas
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| The 2001 U of T Piranhas: Waterloo Grand
Champs |
The 2001 season began with massive turnover
as eleven new members were welcomed to the team. That same year,
Tim Insigne was named the captain of this up and coming crew.
The uncertainty surrounding the team was quickly replaced with
a realization of the potential the crew possessed. At Pickering,
the Piranhas finished 10th overall, in a tight second place
finish behind Cartier Partners Tempest in the B Division final.
With the Cyberplex Shaolin Monks finishing third in that same
final, the Piranhas had established themselves as the top Community-level
crew heading into the Toronto Island race (TIDBRF). At TIDBRF,
the Piranhas captured the elusive University Cup and also finished
4th in the Community "A" Final, behind Mount Sinai,
Baycrest and the Monks. The Piranhas rounded out their season
in Waterloo with a second Ontario Universities and Colleges
Championship as well their first Grand Championship in a nailbiting
0.01 second victory over the Scream'n Demons. The Piranhas became the first University-level team to ever win a Grand Championship
in the world.
Departing Crew Members (8): Tricia De Los Santos, Melissa
Fleishacker, Cheong Lee, Raphael Leung*, Jason Lim, Katy Li,
Karen Li, Wayne Nguyen* (* returned in 2003) |
| 2000 - University of Toronto
Piranhas |
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| The 2000 University of Toronto Piranhas
at Pickering - 18th out of 49 teams |
Coach Rob Chang posted an open call for paddlers
on Asianavenue.com, which spawned an entirely new collective of paddlers from the team's predecessor, Poseidon's Seed. After starting the season
with an 18th place finish in Pickering, the Piranhas made huge
improvements leading up to their final two races of the year
in Toronto and Waterloo. The Piranhas finished 8th in Toronto
with a second place finish in the Community B division, avenging
a loss to the University of Waterloo Systems Design Engineering
Crew which beat the Piranhas in a battle for the TIDBRF University
Cup. However, the cherry on the top of the season was an Ontario
Universities and Colleges Championship Title as well as the
team's first A division appearance with a 4th place finish in
Waterloo. This was also the first year when Assistant Coach
and Manager Ling Tin was brought on board to steer the team.
Departing Crew Members (11): Chi Chu, Jimmy Duong, Cynthia
Fung, Rick Mak, Season Man, Bryan Ng, Will Shao, Ann Tran,
Kent
Tran, Denise Tsui, Johnny Wong |
| 1999 - Poseidon's Seed |
Poseidon's Seed was a recreational
team put together by Rob Chang for the races in Waterloo and
Montreal. In Waterloo, the team finished 21st out of 49 teams
and was disqualified from the Montreal race for racing without
enough men in a heat.
Departing Crew Members: San Chang, Sean Dickie, Jeff
Holubeshen, Hoc Hunyh, Alison Mok, Phoung Nguyen, Vivian Young |
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