JAMAICA will field a mixed team, winners at June’s inaugural Jamaica Dragon Boat Festival, at the Bahamas International Dragon Boat Festival at Goodman’s Bay, Nassau, from August 30 to 31.

Members of the team have been in training at Port Royal for the Bahamas International which is expected to draw participation from teams across the Caribbean and North America, including a high school team from Trinidad and Tobago and competitors from Oregon in the United States.

Sponsored by McKay Security, the Jamaican team has seven International Sport Kickboxing Association’s Amateur Members Association (ISKA AMA) World Championship gold medallists, including three current world champions — Akino Lindsay, Richard Stone and Akeem Lawrence — captained by former fighter Jason McKay in its line-up.

The team will also include two footballers from the St Catherine Football Association’s leagues. Oshane Wilson, a powerlifter and police officer, joins the team with navigator Gregory Forsythe. Neil Yap Sam, vice-president of the Jamaica Dragon Boat Federation, has been named helmsman of the tailored squad.

Featured members:

Jason McKay

No stranger to international competition, McKay represented Jamaica in rugby in his teens and martial arts for almost 30 years. McKay captained Jamaica’s combined martial arts team to 50 unbeaten international team matches to include Japan, China and the United States. He was Jamaica’s first International Sport Karate Association medallist and has won numerous US Open gold medals. McKay sits fifth right in the boat and is tasked with bolstering the power needed to achieve the desired speed.

Greg Forsythe

The only team member who is a trained seaman, Forsythe has naval-navigator training and has spent time and training on various boats that require manpower. He sits fifth left and is the only male reserve on the squad. Forsythe represented the McKay Security team which won gold in the mixed-team event at the Jamaica Dragon Boat Festival.

Denise Romero

Lone female and Team Manager Romero, similar to more than three-quarters of the squad, holds a black belt in martial arts. She represented McKay Security in one of the divisions entered in the Jamaica Dragon Boat Festival. Romero is also listed among the reserves for the open event.

Raúl S Fernández-Calienes

A dragon-boat racer since age eight, Fernández-Calienes started with the Blazing Paddles racing team in Hollywood, Florida. Now with the SACA Golden Dragons, based in Tampa, Fernández-Calienes has raced in Florida, Alabama, Puerto Rico, The Bahamas, and Jamaica. His racing highlights include winning two silver medals at the Pan American Club Crew Championships, at age 12, in Panama. He also competed among adults, representing the SACA Golden Dragons. At age 14 Fernández-Calienes was selected for the United States’s national Dragon Boat team, Junior Division, and travelled to Brandenburg, Germany, where he represented the USA at the World Dragon Boat Racing Championships, winning six medals in both open and mixed junior divisions.

Greg Forsythe

Denise Romero

Raúl S Fernández-Calienes