SAN DIEGO
DRAGON BOAT TEAM
BOARD OF DIRECTORS

SDDBT President since 2021

Member since 2016

A self-professed “gym rat,” Lisa was introduced to dragon boat paddling by a close friend who paddled with SDDBT. It was like introducing a duck to water.

She joined SDBBT in 2016 and was awarded the prestigious Coaches Award in 2017. She also saw the need for her organizational skills from decades as a business owner of a software development company. Lisa became Vice President of External Affairs, created the Vendor Village and silent auction for SDDBT’s Annual International Dragon Boat Race, secured local TV promotional coverage for that event, wrote an impassioned response to Senate Bill SB-1247, and represented SDDBT at PDBA and national club gatherings.

Lisa rarely misses a practice or tourney events. This included crewing SDBBT’s women’s B team that earned a berth in a Vancouver, Washington qualifier for IDBF Club Crew World Championships in France.

SDDBT Vice President, External Affairs since 2019

Member since 2015

While Dawna was involved with Honolulu’s Outrigger Canoe Club when living in Hawaii for 25 years, it was on club-sponsored tennis teams rather than in a paddling capacity. An avid kayaker on Windward Oahu’s Kaneohe Bay and eventually on San Diego’s Mission Bay, she had limited exposure of the dragon boat realm until a week prior to attending her first SDDBT practice.

Since joining SDDBT, Dawna has competed with the team on local and regional levels. She considers the most challenging and rewarding as participation in the 2019 PDBA Regionals in Vancouver, Washington, where SDDBT’s Women’s B Team earned a berth to compete in the 12th IDBF Club Crew World Championships (CCWC) scheduled for Aix Les Baines, France in August 2020.

Dawna has received SDDBT’s Most Improved Paddler and Ironman Paddler awards. Looking forward, she hopes to continue honing her paddling skills and earning a spot on the SDDBT crew that will compete to earn a berth for 13th IDBF Club Crew World Championships to be held in 2022.

SDDBT Treasurer since 2017

Member since 2015

Growing up on a 20-acre ranch below sea level outside of El Centro, California, Sylvia quickly learned that joining sports gave her more time to spend with friends.

After moving to San Diego in 2004, she decided to take her passion for athletics from land to ocean when a co-worker recommended outrigger canoeing. As Sylvia describes it, “Swimming in a canal and ordering water by the inches to irrigate the fields in El Centro is much different than the water I experienced in the ocean.” Knowing that she enjoyed paddling, she found the sport of Dragon Boating.

Since joining SDDBT, Sylvia has enjoyed the opportunity to compete with SDDBT and a variety of teams in local, regional, national and international races that include the 2019 PDBA Regionals in Vancouver, Washington. It was this race where she paddled on the SDDBT Premier Team that earned a berth to compete in the 12th IDBF Club Crew World Championships (CCWC) scheduled for Aix Les Baines, France in August 2020.

Serving as Treasurer since 2017, Sylvia received the 2018 SDDBT Paddler of the Year Award. As for the future, she aspires to continue growing as a paddler and racing as much as possible.

SDDBT Assistant Treasurer since 2024

Member since 2018

A San Diego native, Spencer camped at Fiesta Island with the Boy Scouts more than a dozen times when growing up. Yet, he failed to discover dragon boating until he attended UCSD.

‘I tried out and didn’t make the team my first year, but came back and joined the team in 2018,” says Spencer. He paddled with SDDBT at the PDBA Regionals in Vancouver, Washington in 2019, and also traveled to Wenzhou, China to compete as a member of UCSD.

Like many people, Spencer took a hiatus from paddling in 2020-2021. When returning to the sport in 2022, Spencer competed with Team USA U24 for the 2023 competition in Pattaya, Thailand.

“My favorite part of dragon boating is having such a large team to motivate and support me,” Spencer says. “Moving forward, I hope to expand my technical knowledge and meet more members of the dragon boat community.”