Back to Blog

News From Brazil

Submitted by MÁRCIA DENISE IULIANO SOUZA.Drummer da Equipe Meninas do Lago.(English Translation Follows)O PARAJAPS é o maior evento paradesportivo do Estado do Paraná, que envolve atletas de todos os municípios em diversas modalidades esportivas, individuais e coletivas.Em 2023, a disputa em Dragon Boat participou desse evento apenas como demonstração de uma modalidade esportiva e contou com a participação de 3 equipes e quase 70 atletas sobreviventes do câncer de mama. Já em 2024, a m...

Breast Cancer Drug Trials

Submitted by Meri Gibson on behalf of Breast Cancer Research Trust (BCRT), Hamilton, New Zealand. The research team is busy setting up two international clinical trials and an evaluation project. They look forward to making the following studies available to their patients:An international drug trial called the “CAMBRIA-2”. This trial will investigate a new hormone (endocrine) drug called Camizestrant. This will be compared to standard hormone treatment for patients who are high risk for bre...

Breasts Ahoy

Breasts Ahoy Dragon Boating team will be participating in the St. Andrews Race by the Sea Festival on September 21st. All teams have been challenged to raise $1,000.00 in support of Mental Health in Saint John and surrounding area. To raise funds, we’re having a: Christmas in July 5km PaddleYour support would be greatly appreciated. This is an important cause for many of us....

CanAmerica Club Crew

Submitted by Linda Kuska.Team Captain, Rowbust.Membership Director IBCPCJuly 25-28, 2024, the International Flatwater Paddling Centre, in Welland, Ontario was alive with the first ever CanAmerican Championships!Dragon Boat Canada along with USDBF worked together to provide the most competitive, fair and exciting racing on the continent in 2024!Over 100 teams from Canada and the United States competed over 4 days with exciting 200m, 500m and 2000 races which had perfect weather conditions. BCP te...

News From Panama

By Floribeth Campos de Finizio.On June 1st and 2nd, in Panama City we had the opportunity to have the 8th Dragon Boat festival with more than 30 teams. In Our Category there were 6 breast cancersurvivor teams. It was a beautiful setting for the Remos Arriba Rosas V Region de Chile team to come to Panama, as well as the Pura Vida Dragon Rosa team from Costa Rica. It was their first time participating in a festival, and all together with two teams from Pink Warriors, Mamas pal Agua and Dragon Hea...

Chemo Daydreaming to Reality

Submitted by Jenny De Grace.Breast cancer took many things away from me, a little under one year ago. It took my breast, it took my job, and it temporarily took away my happiness, like it did most of us. When I was diagnosed, I quickly had surgery, then after some healing, came the dreaded chemo. Chemo was a difficult journey for me. I recognize it now as a gift, but it was a difficult gift. My chemotherapy treatment plan included dose-dense chemo treatments, every two weeks, for a total of 4 mo...

TK Spirit Award

Submitted by Los Angeles Pink Dragons, USA.A year ago friends of TK Kimura launched The TK Spirit Award as a way to honor our beloved friend TK who brought infectious energy and admirable qualities everywhere she traveled. Those special qualities have been the focus of the nomination process. They are: Influence - Humility - Ohana - Passion and Resilience.We want to thank the many people across the US that took time to submit a nominee for consideration. The committee is impressed with the numbe...

News From Germany

Submitted by Christina (Pink Dragonistas Hannover).The third pink cup was again part of the “Drachenbootfestival Hannover”. For the 28th festival edition on Pentecost weekend, 11 BCS teams colored Lake Maschsee in downtown Hannover pink.This year, we welcomed pink composite teams from different German clubs – some even experienced their first regatta ever. There was also a Go Europe team formed of paddlers from around Europe as well as our dear friends from Denmark, the Copenhagen Dragonbo...

The Olympic Flame

Submitted by Emilie Blond.On June 30th, during the Paris 2024 Olympic torch relay and for the first time in the history of Dragon Boating, the Olympic Flame travelled with pink breast cancer ladies on board. Members of Champ’ Dragon Ladies, a very young team created in 2022 at Châlons-en-Champagne (France), had the opportunity to be chosen by the Olympic Committee to paddle across “Lac du Der”.This Sunday morning, all the elements were unleashed : rain, wind, storm, we could see waves on ...

Dragon Boat Atlanta

In the heart of Atlanta, nestled amidst the urban landscape and bustling city life, a unique movement began to take shape in 2004. On that chilly February afternoon, Dragon Boat Atlanta embarked on its maiden voyage, marking the inception of a journey that would span two decades of camaraderie, resilience, and empowerment. Founded by Beverly Booth, inspired by the dragon boat program for cancer survivors in Charleston, South Carolina overseen by her cousin Sterling, Dragon Boat Atlanta emerged a...

Dragon Divas

The Dragon Divas of Saint Paul, Minnesota were honored last night by the Minnesota Senior Sports Association (MSSA) as their 2024 Team of the Year! The Minnesota Senior Sports Association is dedicated to encouraging and supporting Minnesotans aged 50 and older in their pursuit of competitive athletics.Dragon Divas attended an awards banquet along with other honorees from Minnesota that encompassed sports from Jui Jitsu to pickleball, a former olympian, to an honoree who ran the Boston Marathon ...

Shanghai AngelCare

IBCPC China Rep Beirong Xiong updates readers on the Chinese team that made history at last year’s New Zealand quadrennial gathering.One year on from their memorable trip to New Zealand, the Shanghai AngelCare dragon boat team (formerly Shanghai Dragon Sisters) are stronger and more determined than ever. And what better time to catch up with them than on the anniversary of their stepping onto that world stage. I travelled to China this spring to see what influence the experience has had, and w...

Paddle Palooza

Submitted by Annette Johnson.Attendee and National Representative for USA Western Region.On July 9 and 10th, Silver Lining Montana hosted their 2nd Annual Exercise and Lifestyle Medicine in Oncology Care and Survivorship Conference at the University of Montana. This 2 day session brought together some of the top oncology providers and researchers in the industry to enlighten the cancer community with lifestyle medical tools for those in healthcare, with an emphasis on methods to improve standar...

Paddle With A Purpose

By Cindy Crowell.Director of Public Relations.Paddles with a Purpose.Five years ago, in July 2019, a group of remarkable women came together to form Paddles with a Purpose, a Breast Cancer Survivor Dragon Boat team in Austin, Texas. On July 18th they gathered to celebrate their strength, resilience, and the incredible journey they have been on together for the past 5 years.Paddles with a Purpose was founded just before the world was shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the unprecedented ...

Dragons Abreast Blue Mountains

Submitted by Janette Fry, Co-Founder - Dragons Abreast Blue Mountains.Dragons Abreast Blue Mountains is a very new and small Breast Cancer Survivor club in the Blue Mountains area of New South Wales, Australia approximately 1.5 hours west of Sydney.Recently on July 6th of this year we celebrated our First Birthday and Official Launch Day. We currently have 14 members and are building with several new members ready to join.We paddle on the beautiful and picturesque Wentworth Falls Lake and our Mo...

Dragons Abreast Mackay

Submitted by Cheryl Machen.We are so excited to be fielding a full breast cancer survivor team from Mackay for the 2026 IBCPC Participatory Festival in France. This is the first time we have been able to do this. For past international events we have had to rely on our friends from Townsville and Gippsland to help us make up a full team.To assist our members with registration and accommodation expenses we have planned several fundraisers, with the most recent being a very successful Pearls &...

Editor's Report

I was sitting in the boat on the night of our first practice when I heard someone crying behind me.  I thought that maybe I had splashed too much water or that my reach had encroached in her space.  I turned around and Jenny said, “I dreamed about this during chemo.”  That’s the impact of dragon boating and that’s why we do what we do.  Read more about Jenny’s story in this edition of the newsletter. The registrations for France 2026 are incredible.  This ...

News From Spain

Submitted by Anna Fumarola and Alicia Ares de Blas.On Saturday July 6th, the first Breast Cancer Paddlers National Dragon Boat Race 'City of Valladolid ' took place in Spain, in the beautiful city of Valladolid. 14 Spanish teams plus an Irish one participated in this amazing initiative with 150 women paddlers who have suffered or are suffering from breast cancer.The host was the Valladolid team Wallkiria Pisuerga, who generously organised an impeccable event of racing, solidarity and fun where a...

Olympic Flame

This Olympic year will be a busy one for the Dragon Ladies. No medal in sight, of course, but an extraordinary showcase. Three French crews will be represented among the torchbearers.The Olympic flame arrived on French soil on 8 May, in Marseille (Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur region). It has to travel 12,000 kilometres before arriving in Paris on 26 July.During this voyage, which will shed light on the history of France and those who wrote it, on our natural heritage, on French creativity and kno...

Ireland News

Submitted by Marion Egan.Depending on their location many of the Irish teams cannot train through Winter and start training in March and April. Many clubs have used this time to prepare their training plans for a busy summer.Grainne Mhaols, based in beautiful Lough Lannagh in Co. Mayo restarted their training in March and welcomed some members from the Plurabelle Paddlers in Dublin on a bitterly cold Saturday morning for one of their first training sessions of 2024. This was a weekend of fun, fr...

News From Brazil

Submitted by Thays Oliveira.The year in which the Remadoras Rosa do Brasil turns 10, there is news about new teams, the return of the dragon boat in the Brazilian Canoeing Confederation and the training of athletes!Brazil is a country of great diversity, both in its physical aspects, and in its culture. Given the high growth in breast cancer cases in our country, the practice of physical activity as a determining factor in preventing and maintaining health is extremely relevant. Here in Brazil, ...

Special Announcement from Brazil

It is with great pride that we announce to the breast cancer paddling community and all those interested that Larissa Lima is the supervisor of the Dragon Boat modality for the Brazilian Canoeing Federation (CBCa). A canoe athlete, Larissa won several titles and medals in Brazil and beyond.  Larissa is a breast cancer survivor, and is the founder and captain of Canomama, the first Brazilian breast cancer team.  Congratulations, Larissa!  The Pink Remadoras of Brazil movement ...

Paddles Up from Southern California!

Submitted by Bette Ann Baker.The Los Angeles Pink Dragons are celebrating our 21st year of paddling out of Mother’s Beach in Long Beach, California.It is hard to out-do last year’s IBCPC festival in New Zealand, but we’re trying to keep it going! We thoroughly enjoyed Lake Karapiro and meeting so many of you; it was certainly a highlight for us.This year will be more subtle; but we’ve already had a couple of pre-season events.In February 2024 we were honored by California State Long Beac...

Sport Accord Summit

Submitted by Meri Gibson.What an adventure it was to be able to get to the SportAccord on time. I finished my role as Event Safety Director at the New Zealand Dragon Boat National championships, hopped in a car and drove two hours to Auckland to get ready to board a flight to Dubai with a short stop over and then on to Birmingham. I had been flying for 25 hours plus the wait time of two hours in between connections in Dubai. I arrived on a Sunday afternoon in Birmingham only to be told that I ha...

Editor's Report

Submitted by Louise Granahan.It feels so good to be paddling again here in Canada after a long absence.  While our winter wasn’t very severe this year (in Toronto anyway), we can’t paddle from November to April/May. I hope that by now you have been able to register for France 2026.  I can’t believe it is only 2 years away.  The time will fly by!  There are so many things to think about already – will I need a new passport, will I need visas for the other countrie...