Kevin Ruddell

Head Coach of the Calgary Dragon Boat Club, he joined CDBC in 2009 and began coaching in 2011 then as Head Coach since 2017. He leads the club’s competitive and semi-competitive programs.

His coaching draws from psychology, physiology, and body mechanics — translating those principles into practical technique that moves the boat.

He is meticulous in his approach, whether at a festival, race site, restaurant, or anywhere else paper can be found. Teammates routinely spot him making notes, updating lineups reviewing videos, or sketching out new ideas. More often than not, these notes end up on napkins, leading to the recurring suggestion that someone should probably buy him a proper notebook.

Lineup decisions, drill design, race strategy, and technical development are rarely accidental. New drills often arrive after intensive analysis, observation, and refinement. Around the club, they are known as “dream drills” because Kevin routinely claims they came to him in a dream — an unofficial warning that a new drill is about to appear at practice.

His style is direct. He will tell you what you’re doing wrong, why it’s costing the boat speed, and what to change. He will also tell you when something works — which happens less often than paddlers would like. His most common coaching instruction is deceptively simple: “Figure it out”. Athletes are expected to understand what they are doing and why they are doing it. If something isn’t working, the answer is rarely to paddle harder.

While he would love nothing more than to be on the water with the crew, an injury keeps him firmly on the coaching side — which, if you ask the boat, may be where he belongs anyway.

New paddler or experienced racer, the standard doesn’t change. Understand what you are doing, contribute to the boat, and remember that the final judge is neither the paddler nor the coach. It’s the boat.

Jordan Hulecki

Canadian National Team Paddler

Andrea Pleven

Canadian National Team Paddler
Dragonboat Canada High Performance Committee Member