On Sept. 6, a group of Robusters headed off to take part in their favourite dragon boat competition in Penticton. The first event was the Survivors’ Party – organized by the Penticton breast cancer team Survivorship. After a great meal and before dancing the night away, participants heard from a very special guest – Dr. Don McKenzie, whose research launched a thousand dragon boats by proving that breast cancer survivors could benefit from vigorous upper body exercise like paddling.
“I’m waiting for the day when doctors will prescribe exercise to their patients as readily as they prescribe drugs,” Dr. McKenzie declared to his receptive audience. After 50 years of research on ways to improve outcomes for cancer patients, he had good news to share with the paddlers. His most recent studies have shown that chemotherapy to reduce tumor size combined with vigorous exercise has resulted in 53% of patients in the focus groups not requiring any surgery to treat their cancer. One hundred percent of those who didn’t follow this protocol required surgery. Needless to say, at the end of his remarks Dr. McKenzie received a standing ovation from his fans.
Next morning, coach Joy Andersen sent her paddlers out to race with a focus on improving their own performance and working together like a perfectly synchronized machine.
“You all know what you need to work on,” she reminded the team. Once again, the Robusters incorporated four paddlers from Cranbrook and one from Penticton, to fill empty spots in our roster. However, the weeks since the last competition (in Calgary) had been put to good use.
Dragon Boat festivals sort teams into five divisions: Platinum, Diamond, Jade, Gold and Silver. By the end of the festival, our patched together crew, christened “Abreast in the Kootenays,” had reached the Jade Division and placed third in the final race.
As the paddlers cheered the other teams and then congratulated each other the same words were heard from almost everyone, “That was a great race!” and “I can’t believe how much we improved.”
As the 2024 paddling season winds down, the Robusters will hardly pause to catch their breath. You’ll see them out and about in the community getting ready for the 2025 season by selling their popular calendars and raffle tickets as well as raising awareness about breast cancer prevention. When you see them, stop by and say hello – you may even end up as part of the team.