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Road to Recovery

Submitted by Marina HaddockAt the end of June 2022, I was sitting in the waiting room wearing a hospital gown preparing to go back for radiation. It was my last week of treatment and the waiting spurred me to think about what would come next. I would be returning to work and my old routine in a few days and wasn’t sure I had really ‘learned’ what so many survivors say they had from this experience.When I got home, I started searching the internet to find breast cancer survivor groups in th...

Ireland News

The Irish dragon boat community was delighted to welcome its newest club, Ballina Dragon Boat Club: Meitheal Abhainn (River Community) was established on May 8th, 2023. Denise Swanick formed a Meitheal to set up the club in a way that is accessible to all. The people of Ballina showed friendship, kindness and generosity in helping to make her vision a reality.We are a novice crew but we are determined to accept and enjoy the challenges and learn the skills of paddling, helming and reading the ...

Regatta Items

Compiled by Louise GranahanWith suggestions from IBCPC membersYou may not want or need to bring all of these items, but this list will get you started.Paddlingo Paddleo Butt pado PFDo Knee pado GlovesFood and Drinkso Watero Cerealo Blueberrieso Milko Luncho Granola/protein barso Almondso Bananaso Electrolyteso Thermos of coffee or teao Treats for teammatesComforto Tento Stadium seat/chairo Blanketo Dry bags (for my change of clothes, wallet and keys in case it rains)o Waterproof phone poucho Umb...

Dragon Boat Training Ruegen Germany

Ruegen/Germany, September 30 through October 02, 2023Submitted by Itti from Pink Patrol Bochum and Bianca from Pink Paddler DuerenOctober means PinktoberSo again, 55 paddlers from various German cities (Bochum, Datteln, Dueren, Hamburg, Hameln, Kassel, Luenen, Witten, and Wolfsburg) met in Dranske on the German island of Ruegen in the Baltic Sea for a training weekend. It was not only to raise awareness about breast cancer but to continue fighting against this disease in a sporting and entertain...

Dragon Boat Terminology

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From Melissa Adams

From Melissa Adams, Coach: Phoenix Desert Dragons, Arizona, USA.For the first time in history, the 16th IDBF World Dragon Boat Racing Championships in Thailand included the Para dragon’s division. Para dragons include athletes with some form of physical, psychological, neurological, sensory, developmental, or intellectual impairment. Teams represented in this division were from Canada, India, Philippines, and the United States. To say that it was humbling would be an understatement, I was trul...

From the Desk of the President

Meri Gibson, IBCPC Global President.As I write this letter the winter is coming to an end in the southern hemisphere and the summer is coming to an end in the northern hemisphere as we both head towards either spring or fall. The weather has been crazy wherever you are, extreme heat and extreme cold. Let’s hope it is more settled as we roll on into our respective seasons.I have just returned from the IDBF World Dragon Boat Racing Championships in Pattaya, Thailand what a fantastic adventure th...

Anastasia Walsh’s Story

Written by Emma Russell, Multimedia Journalist, New Zealand Herald.Anastasia Walsh never expected to be looking death in the eye at age 23.Yet, three months after giving birth to her giggly daughter Esmae, the Martinborough mum was diagnosed with incurable breast cancer."We have been in and out of hospital more times than I care to remember. But I will not let it take life away from me," Walsh told the Herald on Sunday.Now 24, she shared her story as part of October's Breast Cancer Awareness Mon...

What Surviving Cancer Taught Me

Dr Liz O’Riordan: "I’m a breast cancer surgeon – this is what surviving cancer myself taught me" Daily Telegraph UKBy Rosamund DeanAs a breast surgeon, Dr Liz O’Riordan is well acquainted with worst-case scenarios. So, when she discovered a lump on her breast in 2010, her initial reaction was terror. “I remember howling on the sofa: ‘I’ll be dead in a year,’” she says. “I thought it was the end of the world.” To her relief, the lump was a benign cyst. In 2014, she noticed a...

What it is to be a Breast Cancer Dragon Boater

AnonPicture this: You're at a Dragon Boat competition, sizing up your opponents, and silently predicting your chances of victory. But during this intense atmosphere, there's a team that might catch you off guard. They're a group of women, ranging in age from 35 to 80, all pretty and dressed in a lot of pink, but not to be underestimated. Who are they? Well, they're the breast cancer dragon boat teams, and they're here to prove that they're forces to be reckoned with.At first glance, you might mi...

News from the WonderBroads

The WonderBroads of Windsor and Essex County celebrated their 20-year anniversary with a party on July 8th.All team members, supporters and contributors to the team were invited to join in the festivities.We had our dragon boat at the site and started by having some of our new members and our Coach dot the eyes of the dragon.Our Assistant Coach and a founding member, Peggy Hurley, along with a few other founding members spoke about our early beginnings and our 20-year journey as a team.We rememb...

News from Sistership, Canada

To celebrate our 25th Anniversary of paddling after breast cancer we launched a TikTok channel and a LinkedIn page.http://www.linkedin.com/in/sistership-dragonboat-assosciation-25-years-stronghttps://www.tiktok.com/@sistershipdbI am a rookie paddler, just fresh from my journey with cancer and I can say that paddling with this team in this sport has changed my life. It keeps healing. We are fierce and we have a fabulous message.Take good care,Paddles Up!Hope to hear from you!JenNews from Sistersh...

News from Ireland

Regatta PreparationsCork Dragons are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year and holding a Rebel Regatta on Saturday 2nd September in the city. It promises to be a fabulous day of fun and competition and friendships made and renewed.Plurabelle Paddlers are in the final stages of preparation for the forthcoming EDBF Ravenna competitions in September and have entered 2 teams in the competition. They will be joined by Carlow Dragons in representing Ireland at the competition.Remembering Julie ...

News from Germany

Drachenbootfestival Hannover brings PINK DRAGONS together.The team Pink Fusion started as a racing community of pink teams from the Western area of Germany, that is Koblenz, Limburg, Heilbronn, and Aschaffenburg.When we started the first race of the competition on Saturday, the team came together in a boat for the first time. Nobody knew how the team would synchronize.Then the start sign was given, and the team had a good first race, being in second position already. It was wonderful to see how ...

Oxford Paddlers for Life

Oxford Paddlers for Life welcomed and thanked Wendy Grose as guest helm to run some paddling sessions for them in August.Thursday 17th August - an evening paddleThursday 24th August - an evening paddlePaddling was of course dependent on the weather.Oxford Paddlers for Life are still organising dates for the September sessions, but there is one confirmed session on Saturday 16th September at 9.30 am with David Coldwell as guest helm. So, if you are in the area then, be sure to pop in to say hi.Wi...

Breast Friends Dragon Boat Racing Team Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

25 years ago, in November 1998, two women from the greater Edmonton area, gathered a group of breast cancer survivors together to see if there was enough interest to form a dragon boating team. The interest expressed was significant, so from this point, a volunteer executive was formed. This executive had the formidable task of determining the best path for the team, and began working immediately to create Breast Friends Society, an Alberta charitable organization, registered in February 1999. T...

News from Chemo Savvy, Canada

We had our first local Dragon Boat Festival of the season!We entered three boats of paddlers!We had an amazing presence at this festival!...

Angels Abreast

The Nanaimo Dragon Boat Festival 2023 celebrated its 20th anniversary of the festival where the Angels Abreast team was integral in the beginning of the Nanaimo Festival.We hosted a Friday night dinner for all the Survivor teams with food, music, and dancing! One special event at the dinner is to celebrate first year survivors and every year after, circling around the years of survival with many tears and feeling of sisterhood.The Survivor Challenge took place on Saturday where all survivors rac...

KC Pink Warriors

KC Pink Warriors brought home the medal in the BCS Cup and was competitive in the Women’s division during the Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival!This marks a significant milestone for our team as it was our very first international festival. The city of Vancouver was gorgeous and the thrill of competing in Olympic Village against top-notch teams from around the world has left and indelible mark on our souls.The adventure didn’t stop on the race course, when we weren’t competing we made t...

Update from The Bahamas

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Italian Dragon Sisters

What a wonderful team spirt!by Lucia De Ranieri, IBCPC Vice PresidentItalian Dragon Sisters is a newbie member of IBCPC. I cannot imagine a more beautiful name for this composite team that joins together Italian paddlers from BC teams from the whole of Italy and that fully expresses the sisterhood and camaraderie between breast cancer paddlers.This team was born a few months ago with the intention of giving the opportunity to any BC paddler to independently join this team to compete in dragon bo...

DIA DEL NIÑO (Children’s Day)

Submitted by: Marta Lapaz, Rosas del PlataTigre , Buenos Aires , ArgentinaEvery year in the winter holidays, that is July for Argentina, we take boys and girls between 5 and 12 years old from the area where we paddle, for a ride in our dragon boat.They expect to see the big, majestic boat enter the bay with the Rosas girls in pink wearing crazy wigs or headbands. “Let's paddle to the beat of the drum” is the slogan.Some of the children come to the meeting in their little kayaks, then line up...

International Connections

By Meri GibsonHow easy is it to connect, extremely so it would seem.I received a WhatsApp message from Irene Chui our national representative to Singapore.It read: Hi Meri, do you know any teams in Germany because I’m going to be going over there for work for 10 days and I’d like to be able to paddle.Sure Irene, let me introduce you to Svenja Franke-Bruhn our national representative for Germany.Ladies say hi to each other, Svenja can you help Irene.The rest is as they say, history, with Iren...

Updates from Around the Globe

News from CanadaCanadian Dragon Boat Championships - July 20-24, 2023, Welland, Ontario, Canada.IBCPC Board Member and Rowbust Team Captain Perspective - Linda KuskaI first must CONGRATULATE all the BCS teams who came to the 2023 Canadian Dragon Boat Championships! It was a very exciting few days of racing and for many of you, the first time competing at Nationals!BCS Standard Boat Division:Canal Dragons Hope Floats - Welland, OntarioDragons Abreast - Toronto, OntarioH2O Seincr'eau - Montreal, Q...

Reach for Recovery (Australia)

There are many organisations that support breast cancer survivors. This is one of them and may be of interest to people.I am the President of Reach to Recovery International (RRI), which serves as an umbrella organisation for other organisations and individuals working in their own countries and communities to improve the quality of life of individuals affected by breast cancer including families. We do this through peer support, advocacy, and peer navigation.We have members throughout the world...