June 18, 2023 at 8:18 a.m.
Rhinelander's Mankus, Reis to represent the Northwoods overseas
Mother-daughter duo will compete on the U.S. dragon boat team in Thailand in August
Rhinelander's Mankus, Reis to represent the Northwoods overseas
There, Mankus will represent the United States on the country's first ever paradragons team in an international competition hosted by the International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) - the 16th World Dragon Boat Racing Championship to be held from Aug. 7-13.
Reis rowed in college for the University of Wisconsin-Madison and she says being on the water helps her stay in shape and satisfies her competitive nature.
She said she joined the team around 2017 after experiencing the annual Minocqua Dragon Boat Festival.
Emma joined the youth team, the Dragonlings, after her mom and coach Mike Mondrall suggested the idea to her when the group was formed last year.
Mankus, who has Cerebral Palsy, said the U.S. paradragons team was created so that those with disabilities will have a chance to compete too.
According to the IDBF's website, paradragons are athletes who live with some form of physical, psychological, neurological, sensory, developmental or intellectual impairment.
As Emma explained it, Mondrall was asked if he had any paddlers who might be interested in trying out for the team. When Mondrall mentioned the idea, Emma agreed and traveled to Tempe, Ariz. for a training camp and tryout.
The tryout was fun, besides having to row in "dirty water," she said with a laugh.
"Because I'm her mother and because I paddle, the U.S. paradragons coach reached out to both of us and asked us to come to the tryout camp," Reis said. "Because in paradragon racing, you can have full boats of full para paddlers or you can have boats that are 50 percent para athletes and 50 percent support paddlers. So I was accepted to the team as a support paddler."
Reis and Mankus, who reside in Rhinelander, said they've been to different parts of the world before, like Europe, but this will be their first trip to Thailand.
Both of them checked out some books at the library in prep for their upcoming trip.
Seeing what the culture is like and how people in Thailand have fun is one of the things Emma said she's most excited for.
The mother-daughter duo said they hope to have some time to explore. The trip will be two weeks, and the first week is dedicated to acclimating to the area and training. Charil said they will also have the opportunity to bond with teammates from around the country and competitors from around the world.
"We obviously want to try and win some medals so we're going to do a lot of training beforehand," she said. "See what works, see what doesn't work. And hopefully, yes, we'll have some time to do a little bit of sightseeing on our days off because I don't know if we race every single day yet. The schedule hasn't been released."
Charil and Emma are the only two team members who will represent Wisconsin. There are many teammates from the east and west coasts, they said.
Emma, a student at Rhinelander High School, is the youngest on the team, her mother said. Emma, Charil also noted, could be drumming or paddling.
Emma said she hopes she's assigned as the drummer, though she said she'll probably be a paddler.
Representing her school and the Northwoods is what Emma said she's most excited for.
"The important thing to add here is this is the first year the USA has added a paradragon squad," Charil said. "So we're just hoping to make a big splash, pun intended."
"A big appearance to the world," Emma added.
Reis and Mankus have established a GoFundMe to help offset the cost of training for and traveling to the competition. More information can be found at https://gofund.me/7e3b1fa3.
Trevor Greene may be reached via email at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.