That’s right. We don’t row. We paddle.

What’s the difference? I, too, didn’t know until I got into dragon boat but in the last 6 months, I’ve noticed myself unconsciously correcting people when they say, “Oh, you row?”

On a technical standpoint, they’re very different. Rowing uses oars that sit in an oarlock, which is attached to the boat. Also, rowers sit backwards in the boat so that they face the back of the boat (stern). The oars provide leverage to transfer human effort into a forward motion.

Paddling, however, is the opposite. The paddles aren’t attached to anything and paddlers sit facing the front of the boat—such as in kayaking, canoeing, and dragon boating. Basically, they face toward the direction of travel. Paddles displace water by human effort.

Look out for more random facts of our awesome sport!