Thaddeus Hunt is the principal trainer at DBSUSA and has been a recreational paddler since before he could see over the gunnel, spending his youth paddling with alligators in Florida and his adult life whitewater kayaking and dragon boating the calmer water bodies of California. Dedicated to the dragon boat community, he served as the Safety Director/Emergency Manager and primary safety trainer for California Dragon Boat Association with over a decade of experience in dragon boat emergency management programming and safety training in the San Francisco Bay area, dragon boat organization administration, compliance, and emergency management and disaster recovery. He has built a history of experience responding to dragon boat incidents; implementing After Action Reviews; response and recovery at the Camp Fire in Paradise California; Covid 19 Response Operations in Los Angeles County; drought planning and response; and many other fire, evacuation, and response and recovery operations. He is an active volunteer with California Dragon Boat Association, Team Rubicon, and the Sacramento Community Emergency Response Team and holds multiple FEMA trainings and certifications, whitewater kayak rescue certification, and a certificate in Emergency Management and Disaster Recovery from UC Irvine. His dragon boat teams include Davis Racing Dragons and Infinity Dragons in Northern California and SoCow in Southern California.