Cal Dragon Boat | College Cup 2026

History & Overview

Founded in 1998, Cal Dragon Boat is a competitive student-run dragon boat team at UC Berkeley that regularly participates in regional, national, and international races. We are a diverse group of hardworking students studying various concentrations, ranging from medicine and engineering to rhetoric and architecture. We strive to make dragon boating more accessible to the students of UC Berkeley and recruit student-athletes twice a year. We are extremely proud to be one of the top college teams in the United States. Dragon boating is a water sport in which a canoe-shaped boat of up to twenty people paddle together in a synchronized rhythm to make the boat move, emulating a soaring dragon. Usually, races are 200, 500, or 2000 meters in length. Dragon boating is traditionally observed during the Chinese Duan Wu festival. However, it is now a much more common year-round activity and is one of the fastest-growing sports throughout the world!

Our Current Team & Upcoming Races
Every semester, we participate in 2 races, competing against teams across the state, country, and even the world! In Spring 2025 we placed 2nd in the Tempe Arizona Dragon Boat Festival’s Collegiate Division and 2nd at the Baby Long Beach Dragon Boat Festival A Division 500m and 200m races. In Fall 2024 and 2025 we placed 1st in A Division at the College Cup Dragon Boat Race. Last summer, 6 of our paddlers qualified for Team USA, representing the United States and competing in the World Dragon Boat Racing Championships (WDBRC) in Germany! 

This semester (Fall 2026), we have races at the North California Dragon Boat Festival (NCIDBF) in Foster City and College Cup at Lake Merced, San Francisco. With 51 active paddlers on our roster, we are excited to continue training hard and cultivating our community!

One boat, one team, one family!

Why we're fundraising

We are fundraising to cover travel expenses for College Cup and upgrade our team's shared equipment! We have won the College Cup Race the past two years, and it is our biggest race. However, our paddlers currently pay out of pocket for travel and food, which can be expensive. We hope that this fundraiser can help alleviate the financial burden, making race attendance more accessible for all paddlers. We also want to upgrade our equipment so that more future paddlers can enjoy a better experience on the team! 

Our overall race expenses: $5000 total

• $2250 for 15 Team Personal Flotation Devices
• $2000 Race Registration Fees
• $500 Electrolytes, Water, Race Food
• $500 Travel Fees

Our current fundraising goal: $2250 for Personal Flotation Devices

Even if we don't reach our full goal, every dollar raised will still go back to covering paddlers’ travel fees, prioritizing reimbursements for paddlers with the most financial need! All estimates are rough only, and actual expenditures may vary. 

Thank you for your consideration and support!

Connect with us:

Website: https://caldragonboat.studentorg.berkeley.edu/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caldragonboat/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CalDragonboat

Email: caldragonboat@gmail.com

Want to make your gift by check, donor-advised fund, or employer matching program? We are happy to help! Please email calcrowdfunding@berkeley.edu and include how you would like to support this project. Our team will provide the appropriate instructions, coordinate gift processing, and help ensure your contribution is credited to this campaign whenever possible.