On Friday, Aug. 9, the Kootenay Robusters Dragon Boat Team left home for the Calgary Dragon Boat Festival. Although we’ve been training hard, our goals were realistic and tempered by reality. Only 10 veteran Robusters had signed up to go, so the full team of 21 was put together with 6 novices, three borrowed paddlers from Cranbrook, another from Edmonton and a spare from Calgary. Our coaches, Joy Andersen and Kathy Hanson knew there were challenges ahead. The first time this group of women had ever been in a boat together was in our first race and no one had even seen the venue at the Glenmore Reservoir before.
We named the blended team “A Bunch Abreast” in honour of the many“Abreast” teams throughout BC who followed the lead of the women in the landmark study by Dr. Don MacKenzie. Those 25 breast cancer survivors were invited to dragon boat for a year to see if vigorous upper body activity had any negative effects. These women, who formed “Abreast in a Boat,” proved that exercise of this type was beneficial, rather than ill-advised.
Almost immediately, breast cancer survivors all over the world embraced this work and set up their own dragon boat teams, including the Robusters in the year 2001. Now, almost every dragon boat festival has a survivor race and flower ceremony – after which the teams go back to competing as recreational paddlers.
The only confusion about our new name came when one of the race marshalls looked at her list as we were lining up and exclaimed, “Now I understand – I just didn’t get it when one of the local steersmen said he was waiting for a bunch of breasts!” That gave us all a good laugh.
Dragon boating takes strength, flexibility and most of all a focus on synchronizing each stroke with the lead paddlers, seated at the front. Teams train in different ways and use a variety of techniques. The commands from the drummer during a race can also vary. It was a real challenge to bring a diverse group like ours together, but by the last race we felt as though we had finally done it. Needless to say, there were no medals around our necks for the return trip, but we all agreed it had been a fantastic experience and a great opportunity for team bonding and meeting new friends.
In the next month we look forward to hard practices to improve our paddling as we prepare for the Penticton Dragon Boat Festival in early September. After all the fun in Calgary, we can hardly wait. Finally, we’d like to remind any woman who is considering this lifetime sport, you are welcome to come out and give it a try. Check out our website: www.kootenayrobusters.com for more details. We are always recruiting.