Team Kraken paddles to racing success

Randy Stokes beams with pride as he stands in the bow of his team's dragon boat. In less than three years, the coach has transformed a group of inexperienced Portland high school paddlers into the elite Wasabi Kraken racing team now making a splash on the international stage.

"It's been a challenge since most of them had little or no experience with team sports, and this is the ultimate in team sports," says Stokes, an avid paddler who had never coached before. "Their level of dedication is impressive, and that's why I keep coming back."

The Krakens — named after a sea monster in Norwegian lore — originally formed to compete in the Rose Festival. They're part of the Wasabi Paddling Club on the east bank of the Willamette River near OMSI. Of three dozen Krakens, 30 attend Cleveland High.

As early as 5:45 a.m. and as late as 7 p.m., 20 teens — the number that fits in the long, slender boat at one time — snap on life vests, grab personally decorated paddles and push off from the floating dock. For 90 minutes, Stokes pushes the paddlers through sprints to synchronize their strokes and build endurance.

"Size isn't as important as rhythm and technique," he says. "A small lightweight team like ours working together can often beat a bigger disorganized one."

Thomas Boyd/The OregonianMembers of the Wasabi Kraken team, most of whom attend Cleveland High in Southeast Portland, spend hours honing their technique.

The team proved that last year, shocking better-known clubs to finish fourth among 190 teams at 500- and 750-meter races in Vancouver, B.C. That led to invitations to compete at world competitions in Prague next summer and from Disney to join the 50-team Orlando International Dragon Boat Festival this month.

"Canada was a big venue and a really big deal, with team tents and racers all over the place," says Annika Mellies, 15. "Everyone was surprised we did so well, but it made up for all those early wet mornings on the river."

Kraken members joined a crew of teens from San Diego and Philadelphia in July to win the national youth title in Long Beach, Calif. The team missed the cut for the finals at the Orlando competition Oct. 18-19, but Stokes and the paddlers called it the experience of a lifetime.

"We were competing against all adult teams, so I think we did really well," says Alison Taylor, a Cleveland sophomore. "It was a lot of fun, and even if we didn't win, everyone on the team was pretty excited with the way it turned out."

Now, in addition to practicing, the crew is working to raise money so as many teens as possible can go to Prague in August.

Stokes also is working to build teamwork on and off the boat. They work out together and participate in fundraisers. And Saturday mornings between training runs on the river, Stokes invites the paddlers to share interests, dreams and concerns.

"It's been a real eye-opener to find out what they have to deal with, from homework to money matters to a parent battling cancer," he says. "They can escape that down here on the water and be part of a team and not worry that anyone will make judgments about them."