Latest news with #dragonboat
CBC
4 days ago
- CBC
Annual dragon boat festival returns to Nanaimo waters
Nanaimo's annual dragon boat festival took to the waters this weekend after the festival spent last year in Victoria. Event organizers say the festival is now there to stay in the harbour city. CBC's Claire Palmer has more.
CTV News
6 days ago
- Sport
- CTV News
West Island breast cancer survivor paddlers win gold at dragon boat world championships
Three Quebec breast cancer survivors are celebrating gold after racing to victory at the World Dragon Boat Racing Championships in Germany. A group of Canadian breast cancer survivor paddlers won gold at the 17th IDBF World Dragon Boat Racing Championships, taking place in Germany this month. Sherri MacCullum, Vanya Chan and Maryse Gosselin made history with a first-place finish in the small boat two-kilometre race in the breast cancer paddlers division. Canada also won gold in the standard boat two-kilometre race, which included Gosselin. 'It's great, pretty incredible,' MacCullum said. MacCullum and Chan are members of the West Island Dragons team, based in Pointe-Claire. They explained that back in January, organizers put out a call for a breast cancer paddlers team to compete at this year's World Championships, something that had never happened before. The two women made the cut. 'We were both very surprised and happy — and I don't know, overjoyed,' MacCullum said. 'There were lots of tears. Getting up on a podium and having 'O Canada' play in the background with your flag being raised is quite the moment.' But their dedication wasn't just showcased on the water. To compete in the championships, each woman had to raise $8,000, which they did through various sources. Chan also credited their perseverance for the team's gold-medal performance. 'We just keep going at it. We're not going to give up. We keep going until we make it. And that's the philosophy for everybody on the team,' Chan said. 'They've been through a lot. They practiced, they put in 100 per cent, even 200 per cent.' The three women still have races ahead in the coming days and hope to perform just as well. 'The message is: it doesn't matter if you have cancer, you just keep fighting. And if you can get through one stream of cancer, then you find something else, and you keep fighting. Life goes on, and it can be really good,' MacCullum said. With files from Rob Laurie.
CBC
6 days ago
- Sport
- CBC
London athletes part of dominant Canadian team at World Dragon Boat Racing Championships
This is the first year that breast cancer survivors are competing in their own division at the World Dragon Boat Racing Championships in Brandenburg, Germany and the Canadian team won two gold medals on the first day of racing. Ten members of the Canadian Breast Cancer Paddler (BCP) team, along with their coach, Cheryl McLachlin, are members of Rowbust—-the London Dragon Boat Club's BCP team that trains on Fanshawe Lake. On Monday, they competed in the 2000 metre races for standard and small boat, winning first in both. "To watch the athletes leave the dock for the first time in a world division, run a clean race and excel to gold was amazing," she said. "Then to watch them mount up onto the podium in that gold position and enjoy our anthem as our flag went up the pole…amazing" The tradition of BCP teams began here in Canada. The first team was formed in Vancouver in 1995 by Dr. Don MacKenzie, a sports medicine doctor researching the physical and social benefits of paddling for breast cancer survivors. Since then, it has become popular worldwide with over 300 teams across nearly 40 countries. Despite the growing number of BCP teams, they have never been able to enter a national team at the world championships. The push for inclusion had been ongoing since around 2009, McLachlan said. "This is the stage we wanted to be on," she said. The Forest City is well represented on the team. Besides McLachlan as coach, there are eight paddlers, along with one steersperson and one drummer from London's Rowbust. Linda Kuska, one of the paddlers, has been a member of Rowbust for 26 years. When the opportunity arose to try out for the national team, there was no hesitation, she said. "You've got to do it while you can, and I really, really wanted to be part of this inaugural team." "And it was an amazing experience. Being a 62-year-old breast cancer survivor athlete, I never thought that I would see this kind of competition in my competitive career." Overall, the Canadian teams won 13 gold, nine silver and five bronze medals on the first day, with athletes from The London Dragon Boat Club also paddling on the Senior A, Senior B, U18 and Para teams. The championships continue through Sunday, and the BCP team is feeling energized, McLachlan said. "We really have to keep our foot on the gas tomorrow," she said. "But I feel good right now." "We can't lose sight of what our goal is," added Kuska. "We'll take it one day at a time, one hour at a time, and get out on that water and do our best."
CTV News
12-07-2025
- Sport
- CTV News
London dragon boat racers compete in Germany
London Watch London's dragon boat club has sent 20 athletes to compete at the World Championships in Germany
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Dragon boat team of breast cancer survivors celebrates 30 years in Vancouver
Nearly 30 years after it first started in Vancouver, a team of breast cancer survivors will compete in the upcoming Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival. The Abreast In A Boat team was started by Vancouver doctor Don McKenzie in 1996 — initially as a six-month trial to show whether there was any evidence to back up a commonly held idea that was limiting the lives of breast cancer survivors. At the time, the scientific consensus was that those who'd had a mastectomy shouldn't be raising their arms over their heads, lifting heavy objects or exercising. Instead, the team demonstrated that not only was strenuous exercise possible for breast cancer survivors, but physical activity and a sense of belonging helped them in their recovery from cancer. Ahead of the dragon boating festival, which starts June 20 in False Creek, members of the team told CBC News about how the team changed their lives. 'I could trust my body' When Carol Dale signed up for the team in 1996, she was celebrating five years being cancer-free, and thought it was an interesting experiment worth trying. "It just turned out to be a fascinating year, learning a new skill, learning that I could trust my body again to work for me," she said. "And I met some wonderful people, and that's what keeps me going." Dale says there are now six teams in the Lower Mainland alone composed of breast cancer survivors, and dozens more in Canada and around the world. And, there's even an international commission encouraging the establishment of more dragon boat teams for those with breast cancer. Recovery ideas change Kristin Campbell, a professor at the University of British Columbia's department of physical therapy, says that when the team was first started in 1996, it was thought that repeated exercise would lead to lymphedema, a painful chronic condition where lymph fluid builds up in a person's arm due to being disrupted by the cancerous cells. "The important piece about this dragon boat experience [is] how it's changed practice around the world," the researcher said. "I think they really have shown that the role of exercise and the camaraderie, that you get from that, really changed how people thought about breast cancer, and thought about exercise and recovery after treatment," she added. Dr. McKenzie's work, along with collaborators, helped demonstrate that regular physical activity is associated with a 35 per cent reduction in mortality among cancer survivors. Breast cancer is the second most-common cancer in Canada, and roughly one in eight women are expected to be diagnosed with it in their lifetimes. While some like Dale are veterans of the team, others like Anca Dobre, 29, are more recent competitors. She was diagnosed in December 2023, and finished her radiation treatment the following August. Dobre said that the team showed her that a diagnosis didn't necessarily mean she was going to be bedridden. "Actually, it was the opposite," she told CBC News. "We all became more active. "There's so much to life after cancer and it's not just about surviving, but actually thriving, with this team because they're all so inspirational in everything they do."
