Team Leatherneck
Young Dragon Boat Competitors Beware!
Written by Blair Townley; Photos by Anthony Rao
No age is too old when you are part of a dragon boat team.
Team Leatherneck of The Villages proves that each time they get into the water to defend their Masters Division title in the 50 and above category, even though most of the team is above 60.
“It’s great exercise and for folks our age, it’s extremely gratifying to go out and beat people who are 30 or the age of our grandchildren,” Team Leatherneck member Jack Maiz says.
“We’ve done very well against some of the best in the state.”
Formed in March 2009, the team consists of the 12 men and eight women required to paddle the boat. Their name originates from the label Revolutionary War soldiers were given for the leather straps they wore around their necks to protect themselves in battle.
Several of the team members are former Marines and range in careers from a retired police detective to a former NYC fireman to a retired oil company executive.
Their first official race was during last year’s Dragon Boat Festival, a performance that encouraged the team members to become more active in the sport.
“We faired first in our division during the festival,” says retired Lt. Colonel Lee Cerovac, Team Leatherneck’s captain and a former Marine F-4 fighter pilot.
“[This year’s festival] we will be bringing a year’s worth of experience and there will be more competition this year too with bigger teams at Wooton Park.”
Part of that year’s experience the team will be bringing to April’s festival are stronger, conditioned bodies to handle the strenuous North American high hand-style paddle strokes and 500-meter, two-minute plus races.
Besides spending two days a week on the water paddling eight miles in their 42-foot, 850-pound boat, the team works out regularly at the gym and practices strokes in local swimming pools.
“We work out a lot more than everyone else. We work out six times a week; weightlifting two days a week, doing aerobics and conditioning two days a week, and then we are out on the water two days a week. We do a little bit more than most and that’s why we doing pretty good in our races,” Lee states.
Knowing they are up against competitors half their age, Team Leatherneck realizes staying fit will give them the edge over others.
“Our strength is our power. Everyone who sees our boat and who gets in our boat mention how powerful of a boat it is. That’s mainly because of our power lifting, working out and also because we are Marines so we have always stayed in pretty good shape,” Lee says.
The female team members also participate in the conditioning and find being a part of the dragon boat team to be quite the fulfilling adventure.
“It’s so fun. I think that the main thing is that the age we are that we are able to do something like this,” team member Marilyn Hintermeister says.
“There are people younger than we are that aren’t doing this. It’s a great physical activity.”
What the group has also discovered since joining Team Leatherneck is the camaraderie and heartfelt support that each teammate gives one another.
“If you are a newcomer to this, everyone is so welcoming and so nice and that makes you feel so great,” team member Karen Fisher states.
“We are like a big family and we do everything together. It’s a wonderful team and we are very supportive of each other,” Lee adds.
The team also feels the support of their fellow Villagers, recalling one race at Disney World being attending by 50-60 Villages residents as they won the race.
“We have a following of people that come to the different races we have,” Jack says.
“We’re really hoping that The Villages would be receptive to having a regatta on Lake Sumter because we have the town square there and it would be the ideal venue. We would like to show the rest of the Dragon Boat world how nice The Villages are.”
Also on tap for Team Leatherneck are races in Tampa and Marathon as well as competing in July’s Nationals in Chattanooga, Tenn., and in future races in other states.
Watch for Team Leatherneck to make their second appearance at April’s Dragon Boat Festival in Tavares, proving age is just a number and not a state of mind.
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