Breast Cancer Survivors Racing Dragon Boats – And Wining!
September 22nd 2008 05:55
Currumbin Dragons won the final of the Masters mixed, ahead of Redcliffe by .03 of a second. The Gold Coast Dragons, based at Lake Orr, took out the coveted Premier mixed award, and the Brisbane River Dragons finished in second place.
The Currumbin Divas clinched the Women’s final, with BRD again runners up. The winners of the ‘Pink Challenge’ was the host clubs own cancer survivors team, ‘Breast Mates,’ by .06 of a second to runners up, ‘Missabitatitti’ from Brisbane.
Boat captain Judy Caton said that just making the final was tough after a near collision in their qualifying race.
‘We were running second to Burleigh Fire Dragons when they drifted into our lane. Our sweep had to veer sharply to avoid them,’ she said.
‘We lost all our momentum and barely qualified.’
The Burleigh team did not qualify and the win was snatched by the Manly Dragons.
Many breast cancer survivors take up dragon boat paddling for fun, fitness and camaraderie. It is not all fun and games though; the exercise stimulates lymphatic circulation in women who have had the lymph nodes surgically removed.
Some of these gutsy women have had mastectomies or double mastectomies and nearly all have undergone chemotherapy and radiation. Joining a club is a way of demystifying cancer and overcoming the social taboo of discussing the grisly details of their treatments, remissions, relapses and deaths.
In 2005 Judy was part of the Currumbin team that joined breast cancer survivors from all over the world converged at False Creek, Vancouver for the 10th Anniversary Abreast in a Boat Regatta.
“The saddest part was prior to the closing ceremony when it was announced that a US team member too ill to travel to the regatta had died,’ she said.
Casting pink carnations on the water has become a poignant tradition to mark the end of the competition in memory of those that have succumbed to the disease.
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