The Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club had 28 current and former members invited to the selection camp for the U.S. National Dragon Boat Team following the regional team trials held April 27-29 at Lake Lanier Olympic Park.
An expected 150 invitees will attend the team selection camp in July, with an expected cut of 10-20 percent after the camp has concluded.
Dragon Boat USA is in the process of testing more than 700 paddlers nationwide to represent Team USA. The squad will include nearly 120 athletes among the expected 1,000-plus world-class paddlers from around the world competing in the International Canoe Federation Dragon Boat World Championships on Sept. 13-16 at Lake Lanier Olympic Park.
The LCKC athletes are preparing for not only the World Championships, many of the Junior paddlers also are preparing for the American Canoe Association National Championships for Sprint Canoe and Kayak in August.
Those invited (by division) include:
Junior (ages 15-18): Clay Baker, Maggie Bowmar, Nate Boyd, Joshua Burchardt, Caleb Copper, Drew Deppe, Ethan Deppe, Aaron Dickson, Owen Farley-Klacik, Paige Farley-Klacik, Jackson Hickerson, Allen Marsh, Caitlin Marsh, Lucas Pitts, Andrew Surles and Walker Peck
Senior (18 and older): Cannie Ash, Olivia Clark, Macy Dwyer (formerly of LCKC), Ethan Jackson, Ethan Palmer, Daniel Liu and Tina Young
Masters (40 and older): Sean Allen, David Bittenbender, Anne Blanchard, Enoy Chanlyvong and Laurie Moore
Other members who had a conflict will test within the next two weeks and are expected to make the cut, LCKC coach Jim O’Dell said.
The next local race hosted by Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club at the Lake Lanier Olympic Park is the fifth annual Gainesville/Hall Dragon Boat Challenge on June 2. Information and registration for this race is at https://fs17.formsite.com/lckc1/form10/index.html.Information from Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club press release.
