At every Dragon Boat Festival (a traditional Chinese festival on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month), there are some customs such as having Zongzi, hanging wormwood and flying kites. Everyone must have experienced the above activities. However, have you ever rowed a dragon boat? Today, we will take you up-close to the Tianjin University (TJU) Dragon Boat Team called "Peiyang Dragon".

The TJU Dragon Boat Team was founded in 2000. It is a team with a long history, rich experience, high level, profound influences, and multiple platforms. There are 100 existing players, including undergraduates, master students and doctoral students from various schools of TJU.

In recent years, the team won a large number of honors. In May 2017, four members of the team were successfully selected in the Tianjin Dragon Boat Team to participate in the Dragon Boat Project of the 13th National Games of China. In the same month, the team went to Beijing to participate in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Dragon Boat Invitational Tournament and won second place in the 250m sprint race of the national mixed group, second in the 250m straight sprint of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei mixed group, and third in the 500m straight sprint of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei mixed group. In the “World Famous School Dragon Boat Race” in Dali, the team scored sixth place in the men's 200m straight sprint and the fifth place in the men’s 2000m circle race in June 2017 and won the fourth prize in the men's 500m straight sprint, second prize in the men's 200m straight sprint and first place in the men’s 2000m circle race in June 2018. In the 2018 China Dragon Boat Invitational Tournament, “Peiyang Dragon” won fourth place in the 500m straight sprint of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei mixed group, third place in the 250m straight sprint of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei mixed group, and fourth place in the 250m straight sprint of the national mixed group.

This time, many members of the TJU Dragon Boat Team were interviewed and told their stories about training, competition, achievements, feelings, team spirit and so on.

Zhou Wenyong, a student from the School of Architecture, described their training. Their training is intensive, mainly divided into water and strength training. The latter involves going to the gym for strength training on an individual basis after school hours. In addition, sometimes they have ten-kilometer runs to maintain sound physical fitness. The former is group training, divided into two kinds of training: in the swimming pool and the Youth Lake. In winter when the lake was frozen and they were unable to train in it, so the team members would paddle in the pool water without the boat. In addition to paddling, one-kilometer swimming without a break is mandatory. Those projects are all very hard and test people’s willpower.

When talking about their achievements, the team members were very active in speaking. The friendship among teammates and improved physical fitness are the two most frequently mentioned keywords. Liu Ruiqing from the School of Mechanical Engineering said: “We have gained a lot. The first is having many good friends. We train, compete and work hard together and share the joy of success and the sadness of being beaten. Friendship is the most important thing that I’ve obtained from the team. The second is a strong body. In order to get better results, we work hard to make ourselves stronger."

The successes of the Dragon Boat Team are naturally not separated from their coaches. “Our coach always tells us to be not elated by success nor disturbed by failure, and no matter whether we win or not, we should always remember to work harder”, said by Yan Wenjie. As the captain of the Dragon Boat Team, he has more contact with the coaches and especially feels more grateful for their sincere commitment: "They are the core of our team. Only by their careful guidance, their patient comfort toward us in the face of setbacks, as well as the solution to various unexpected situations during the game can we achieve these results."

Because of representing Tianjin University, the Dragon Boat Team has always kept their alma mater in mind while achieving good results. Yan Wenjie made a detailed explanation for their affections for TJU: "We feel responsibility to fight hard and win glory for our university. We have to use the paddles in our hands to defend the reputation of ‘Peiyang Dragon’. Through seeing numerous dragon boat teams from famous elite schools in China and overseas, we have broadened our horizons and learned the direction for future efforts."

Zeng Yantao from the School of Mechanical Engineering said: “The dragon boat is a collective project, attaching great importance to teamwork. How fast a boat can be rowed is not determined by individual power but depends on whether teammates have a concerted effort. Only in this way can the dragon boat be faster and the team be stronger."

Liu Ruiqing from the School of Mechanical Engineering said: "In my opinion, the team spirit is that everyone is united to work together for one goal and strive to achieve it. All the people are here for the sake of the progress of the entire team. No one is willing to lag behind. The team soul is the core cohesive force for a team. It is the driving force for everyone to persist and is the source of everyone's continuous progress."

This is the "Peiyang Dragon", vibrant and promising. They, strong-willed and forging ahead, sweat for TJU.

In the turbulent river ahead, they will never lose their confidence and will always move in the direction of their hearts.