DRAGON BOATING
In Chinese folklore, the dragon is gentle and kind unlike the evil dragon of European tradition. In fact, the Chinese dragon is reputed to chase away evil. It's known as a fiercely watchful female guardian," Meredith Cosburn said. "When I heard that, I thought, oh, that's wonderful and very fitting."
Dragon boating got its beginning 2,000 years ago in China. A poet-philosopher named Qu Yuan drowned himself in the Mei Lo River to protest the corrupt regime of a Chou emperor. The local fishermen raced out in their boats to save him, but failed. To stop his body from being devoured by fish they beat the water with their paddles and threw rice dumplings wrapped in silk into the river as a sacrifice to his spirit. Ever since, annual dragon boat races are held in China to re-enact this story.
During the 1970s, dragonboating became a watersport in addition to an annual cultural celebration. In the1990s especially dragonboating as a sport for people of all ages has grown tremendously. There are now teams all over the world--North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.
Dragon Boating and Women with Breast Cancer
The dragon boating experience has been described as a "floating support group" for women with breast cancer. It all began with a study involving one boat of 25 women. In 1996, Dr. Don McKenzie, a sports medicine physician at the University of British Columbia, launched Abreast in a Boat.
Medical experts believed that repetitive upper-body exercise in women treated for breast cancer encourages lymphedema. Lymphedema is a permanent, irreversible swelling of the arm and chest area that may develop after lymph node surgery and radiation treatment. Dr. McKenzie disagreed. He believed that women could get involved in a sport like dragon boating if they followed a special upper-body exercise and training program. They could enjoy active lives and avoid the onset or worsening of lymphedema.
Participants in his study were monitored closely by a sports medicine physician, a physiotherapist and a nurse. Dr. McKenzie's theory was right. No new cases of lymphedema occurred and no existing cases got worse.
Since 1996 Dragon Boat racing by breast cancer survivors has grown across Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. There are eight teams in Ontario alone, five in Vancouver, two in Nova Scotia, Alberta, and Manitoba, and a team in Saskatchewan and Montreal, Quebec.
The first training took place poolside using smaller practice paddles at the Family YMCA in Peterborough. Len Minty coached the women to perfect their stroke and timing. Then, when the milder weather arrived, the team got to do the "real thing".
Now it was time to apply all their learning in the brand new dragon boat built by Glenn Fallis of Voyageur Canoes and paid for by Liberty Mutual. As the races got closer, the practices got harder and more frequent. Len taught the race "start" and "finish" and the deadly "six-pack" a surprise technique that speeds up the boat and hopefully throws off the competition!
