Verona resident Robin Crawford has always had a special connection to boating, whether it was with her parents on vacation at Lake Erie or right in her back yard on the Allegheny River.

The Oakmont native has established a bond with water she says will never be broken.

Crawford will take her boating skills to the international level in September as a member of the Team USA Senior Women's team at the Dragon Boat World Champ- ionships in Sydney, Aus- tralia.

Crawford is the only woman from Pittsburgh named to the team.

"It took about a week for everything to fully sink in," said Crawford, a registered nurse at West Penn Hospital.

"I'm excited and proud to represent Pittsburgh and the U.S. I still get choked up when I think about it. The women out in Portland kept getting me mixed up with the ones from Philadelphia. I made sure they knew I was from Pittsburgh."

Crawford became involv- ed in Dragon Boat racing in 2002, after attending an exhibition on the sport.

She joined Three Rivers Rowing and then moved over to the Steel City Drag- ons, where she remains a member.

Dragon boat racing originated in China about 2,500 years ago.

Twenty paddlers in a long, narrow boat sit side-by- side. Each paddler uses only one oar.

A drummer pounds out a cadence in the bow, and a steersman guides the boat from the stern.

The front of the boat is decorated with a fancy head of a dragon.

"It's an awesome feeling to come across the finish line before anyone else," Craw- ford said.

"Dragon boat races are pretty competitive. Hope- fully, it will become an Olympic sport soon."

Crawford's current training schedule has her on the water four days a week for two hours each day.

She will be a part of Team Pittsburgh -- a squad consisting of members of Steel City Dragons and Three Rivers Rowing -- that will compete at the Indepen- dence Regatta on Saturday, June 9, in Philadelphia.

Steel City Dragons train and compete from March until November.

When Mother Nature chases Crawford inside, she follows a strict regiment of indoor activities, including weight training and the use of stationary rowing mach- ines.

Crawford is grateful to her coach, Larry Wenzel, for his guidance and support.

For more information about the Steel City Drag- ons, visit
www.steelcitydragons.com.