Aug. 2—BEMIDJI — The 20th Annual Lake Bemidji
saw the Nordic Whitecaps take home the championship race after upsetting a local rowing dynasty.
The rhythmic drumming of the dragon boats filled the air along the shores of Lake Bemidji on Saturday, as a large crowd watched the 11-time champion-winning team, the HydraHeads, finish second to the team they help train in the off-season.
After a day of racing, complete with 11 morning qualifying heats, followed by another 11 in the afternoon, each team's racing times were combined to determine the top finishes of the day — deciding who would race in the division finals for the bronze, silver, gold and championship cups.
As the championship race got underway, the Nordic Whitecaps were in the lead, but with only a few yards left between their boat and the finish line, the HydraHeads began to quickly close the gap between the two teams, leaving the crowd in suspense.
As the boats crossed the final buoys, it was a photo finish, but eventually the final times showed the Whitecaps led with a time of 2:03.17 while the HydraHeads came in at 2:03.33 after their late push.
The close finish locked in the Nordic Whitecaps' first-ever championship win in the annual event.
"It's kind of amazing. We came out of nowhere; we weren't expecting first place. We were hoping to battle for second," said Jack Galloway, one of the team captains for the Nordic Whitecaps. "I'm really happy with the team. We worked really hard out there, and we dug deep."
Made up primarily of members of the Bemidji High School Nordic Ski Team, the boat's participants trended younger than many of the other 33 teams participating in the races on Saturday.
"I feel like we just really stuck together and watched the whole race," Galloway continued. "Making sure we were in line, in time. There were obviously moments where we were starting to get off, and at the very end we were all tired, but we really stuck together, which is the main thing."
This was Galloway's first year rowing with the Nordic Whitecaps, as he participated with another team last year.
The irony of the high school team locking in their win is that they are coached by many members of the HydraHeads team during their ski season downtime.
"Honestly, it was very exciting," Whitecaps captain Riley Story said of beating their coaches. "It's kind of surprising; we felt our time was quite a bit slower than theirs, but it was very exciting when we crossed the finish line and saw that we won."
Story said she has been racing with the Whitecaps for three years.
"We tried a few new things, but we mostly just really dug deep," Story said about their training. "There are quite a few people that are returning to our team, but there's a lot of new people, too."
The reigning champion HydraHeads, representing the Headwaters Canoe and Kayak Club, were just as excited for the Whitecaps, realizing most coaches' dreams when the pupil finally beats the teacher.
"Well, as I see it, if we were going to get beat by a team, it might as well be the kids we train," said
HydraHeads Captain Mark Walters,
stepped down as head coach
of the BHS Nordic ski team in 2025 after 22 years at the helm. "We work with them on Tuesdays with our own dragon boats. We've been doing this for years.
"They've been on the hunt for us six, seven years in a row, in and out of the gold and the championship divisions. So to me, that was a pretty sweet second place. A little bit of a win-win."
Other teams participating in the championship division race were Island City Dragon Boat Club's Wake My Day, who finished in third place, and the Otter Tail Power Company Kilowatter Otters, who made their Dragon Boat Festival debut and landed in fourth place.
More notable finishes for the day included the Kilohaha-Superior Paddlers team winning their first gold medal with a time of 2:05.53. For the first time in the 20-year event, Sanford Health's Paging Dr. Paddle became the first-ever back-to-back silver medal champions.
Among the special awards, Sanford Dermatology's team You're DERM Right won best team look, the Kilowatter Otters won most creative team name and the Bixby Paddlers won best team village.