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From the WonderBroads, Ontario, Canada

Submitted by Peggy Hurley, IBCPC National RepresentativeThe WonderBroads of Windsor Essex County, Ontario Canada were thrilled to be back together on the water 2022!Our travels consisted of Ontario regattas as well as Vancouver, BC, where this wonderful wave of BCS dragon boating all began.We will be celebrating our 20th Season next year, and invite all of the beautiful people and teams we have met along the way to join us in a special celebration.Details to follow! Contact us www.wonderbroads.o...

Irish BCS Paddling Season

A summary of the Irish season submitted by Fiona SlevinAs 2022 is ending, it is a suitable time to reflect on the year, and a wonderful year of paddling it was too!The removal of pandemic restrictions resulted in a very joyful return to full paddling in Ireland.The sport of Dragon boat racing is thriving on the island of Ireland. There are currently 20 Dragon boat clubs. Of these, one is fully BCS, seventeen have a combination of BCS survivors, supporters, other cancer survivors and family and f...

Italy 2022 Season

A general overview of the 2022 season in ItalySubmitted by Lucia de RanieriThe dragon boat movement In Italy is about to end for 2022 with a great vivacity, the desire to restart after the pandemic was a decisive jump to realize several initiatives and events.The main events of the year have been the IV edition of the Lilt National Trophy at the end of May in Sabaudia, organized by the "Donna Più LILT Latina" team which saw the participation of 8 BCP crews; and the 10th anniversary of the Drago...

Kathy Levy, Coach of Knot Abreast, Canada

Kathy Levy, coach of Knot Abreast inducted into Hamilton, Ontario, Sports Hall of fame. The article below was written as part of Kathy’s induction.Congratulations Kathy on all you have done for the sport of breast cancer dragon boat paddling.There is a great YouTube video of Kathy.In 1998 Kathy Levy took a leap of faith. A breast cancer survivor herself Levy borrowed a Dragon Boat from the local Hamilton area Chinese community.With it she founded the Knot A Breast Dragon Boat racing team for c...

News from Chile

Submitted by Paula Farias NR ChileThis year we received a great invitation to participate in the Dragon Boat Festival for women breast cancer survivors to be held in Brasilia. We immediately began to organize ourselves to be able to attend, each team worked hard to obtain the necessary economic resources for the trip, as this became a dream that we had to fulfill.For the teams Fortale-Senos Chile and Fortalesenos Araucanía it was our second international Festival, and for Remos Arriba, Fortales...

News from Seincr’eau

Submitted by Anne Amrie Coutuire, Capitane et responsible pour Seincr’eauBonjour, pour nous ce fut une année de transition après la COVID. Nous nous sommes entrainé tout de même 2 fois semaine. Nous avons fait 4 compétitions dont la première édition de la nouvelle division des survivantes du cancer du sein à Vancouver dans le cadre de la compétition du Concord Pacific Dragon Boat où 19 équipes de survivantes étaient inscrites et nous avons également fait le Championnat Canadien qu...

News from Vise-À-Vie de Québec

C'est avec grand enthousiasme que l'équipe de bateau dragon Vise-À-Vie a débuté ses entraînements en mai dernier. Quel bonheur de se retrouver sur le Lac St-Augustin même si nous avons dû à quelques reprises affronter les intempéries d'un été 2022 marqué par les soirs d'orages. Fort heureusement, nos entraînements "en présentiel" ont été hauts en couleur! Départ en force, rythme contrôlé, ténacité en fin de course, ont été nos facteurs de succès de la saison. Un été mag...

Outreach 2023

Submitted by Meri GibsonThe funds that we determine and receive from the levy that is payable from the IBCPC festivals is how we fund our outreach programs.We have substantial funds sitting in the Canadian Society bank account that are for this exact purpose and we hope to undertake more outreach clinics in 2023. These will most likely take place in the third and fourth quarters of 2023.Even though Europe has been established for some years there are many countries that still do not have breast ...

Paddling Against Cancer, Guatemala

Submitted by María José Girón Blanco de FontI was diagnosed with Breast Cancer on April 12th, 2021. I then went through chemotherapy for four and a half months. Then I moved to Houston where I lived with my family for five and a half months.As a patient at MD Anderson Cancer Center, I went through surgery and radiation. Right now, I am still on medications, traveling back and forth to Houston every two months for my checkup labs and follow- up appointments.While living in Houston I joined a s...

Picam's on their experience at Banyoles, Spain

Submitted by Beatriz Serrano.If only a year ago someone had told us that we were going to participate in a European Dragon Boat championship as part of a team of breast cancer women survivors, I think all of us would have laughed in disbelief.Because, honestly, what we are experiencing today is like a dream, but one of those dreams that we could never imagine, because a year ago many of us did not even know that the Dragon Boat existed.Have you imagined yourselves practicing canoeing, rowing, or...

Rowbust dragon boat crew has made waves around the world

We found this article below online. The article has great comments from our IBCPC director Linda Kuska.We really value the comment about having been around for 20 years and that Rowbust see it as their “duty” to give back globally by participating in and encouraging outreach.Published Oct 9th and written by Jason Winders.For more than two decades, London’s all-breast cancer survivor crew has paved the way for acceptance — and excellence — at the highest levels of the sport.They don’t...

The Dragons are back in town! Germany

Submitted by Christina BremnerThe song, “the dragons are back in town” hadn´t been heard in Hannover, Germany, for 2 years. Due to the Corona pandemic, the dragon boat festival had to be cancelled in 2020 and 2021 – so the dragon boat family was happy to celebrate the return of the dragons for the 26th edition on Pentecost weekend, 2022! The most exciting part of the ‘Drachenbootfestival Hannover’ was a premiere: for the first time ever, there was a pink cup! The Pink Dragonistas Hann...

The Phenix Are Rising, Canada

Submitted by Line Hamel, Capitaine des PhénixLes Phénix de la Rose des ventsL’an 2022 marque notre 20ième anniversaire. À cette occasion, nous avons opté pour rajeunir notre image. Un nouveau logo a été conçu et la garde-robe des Phénix a été complètement renouvelée.C’est le 4 juin que nous avons souligné cet événement avec nos familles, des anciennes pagayeuses et les gens de notre communauté. Cette journée demeurera un moment marquant dans la mémoire des Phénix.L’équ...

Updates from Germany & Austria

Submitted by Svenja Franke-Bruhn, NR Austria/GermanyThe pink paddling teams in the German speaking countries continue to thrive and are very active this year, almost back to how it was in the years before the pandemic.News from AustriaI was very excited to paddle again in August on the next section of the Loire between Roanne and Nevers, meeting many old friends and making new ones with an international attendance.Quite a few paddlers (and supporters!) attending this Loire Adventure/United Ladie...

14th EDBF Championships

EDBF European Nations Dragon Boat Championships turns PINK once again! Banyoles Lake, Banyoles, Girona, Spain 31st August - 4th September 2022Submitted by Lucia de RanieriThe 14th edition of this event took place a few days ago in the wonderful setting of Banyoles Lake in Banyoles, Spain. I was lucky to spend three beautiful days there with our IBCPC President, Meri Gibson, and Paola Pochesci, chair of the EDBF Women in Sport Commission, of which I have the honor to be a part.For me attending th...

1st Bahamas Festival August 2022

From a Pink Warriors, Panama perspectiveSubmited by Ma. Betania CastroPink Warriors travel to Bahamas.After 4 months of intense preparation, perfecting our technique, tireless strength practices and polishing strategies, the day had finally come. We had accepted the challenge, a new competition, BAHAMAS, a dream place to shine. Together 14 members of the team boarded the flight from Panamá to Nassau accepting the challenge, with toned energies and overflowing with nerves and emotion, but happy ...

Adventure awaits - from Canada to Australia with love

From Tracy Sexton, MAP Chair, on her move from East Coast Canada to Australia.It is Feb 17, 2020, and I am standing in the Toronto airport holding back tears watching my adventurous daughter, Jennifer, go through security and out of sight. She is heading off to do her Master of Education in Melbourne, Australia and will be home in November after her first year is finished. Little did we know that 3 weeks later the world would shut down and 9 months would turn into 26 months. I blame Rowbust and ...

Argentina – Rosas del Plata

Submitted by Adriana Schneider August 2022My life was adrift. One year after a huge, unexpected tsunami had hit my peaceful life ferociously and turned my world upside down, I started looking for answers. Breast cancer diagnosis, surgery, treatment, survival. Six months had gone by, and I still could not find the meaning I was looking for.My name is Adriana, an ordinary woman, mother, professional, and breast cancer survivor. It still sounds awkward to me, but it´s true, I survived, I´m still ...

Brasil – An overview at Roama

3rd Northeast Carranca Boat FestivalSubmitted by Maria Alice Selicani PerfettoRoama is a word with an indigenous origin, which means remain upright´. Writing Roama back to front we read Amoar > love´. And it is not by chance that this word came up – Love – because this is what we noticed and felt in this 3rd edition of Roama Festival in Paulo Afonso, BA – which was held from 25th to 31st July.Paulo Afonso is a picturesque city and its major attraction is the famous and majestic São F...

Chile - Meeting with the Doctors

from Paula Farias IBCPC, National Representative CHILEAfter two very difficult years due to the pandemic, we were able to hold the first meeting of the Fortale-Senos Chile team with doctors and health personnel in Santiago. We had been planning this meeting for a long time, we wanted our doctors, surgeons, oncologists, kinesiologists, nurses to visit us, to meet us and of course to paddle together in our Dragon Boat. Each one of us knows the benefits that this sport has, both physically and psyc...

Club Crew World Championships

Sarasota, July 2022From Betty Solly, IBCPC Board member and representative at the IDBF Council meeting.I arrived in Tampa, Florida at 9:30 on Friday morning, July 22nd. Renting a car, I drove straight to Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, picked up my credentials (listed as a race official) which would allow me to enter the athletes’ village. I spent the morning touring the site, amazed at the growth and development of the facilities since my original trip to Sarasota in 2012. Back then, the I...

Croatia Update

Update on the Croatian newbie dragon boat ream development.Submitted by Dubravka (Buba) Karlovic-Babic, President, Dragon Boat Klub Zadar (DBKZ) Zagreb, CroatiaDear IBCPC members! I religiously follow all the BCS DB developments and events across the world! I have been impressed with so many teams celebrating life in the best possible way: paddling and having fun together! Well, our Croatian Dragonboat Klub Zadar (DBKZ) is doing the same, and over the past several months (since our first report ...

From the desk of the President

September 2022I wish to, on behalf of the IBCPC board and all our members across the globe, acknowledge the passing on the 12th of June 2022 in Vancouver, Canada of Jane Frost, our Founding and Past President (October 2010-retired July 2018). We are sure that many of you will have seen the notification of Jane’s passing on our Facebook page and will have followed the family’s messages along with the livestream of the memorial service for Jane. We have listened to the wishes of the family in ...

God Save the Queen

Submitted by Meri GibsonJust as we were getting ready to go to print the very sad news came through of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.Many of our member teams countries belong to both the realms and the Commonwealth, the loss of her Majesty will be keenly felt in many of these countries. Of our 36 member countries, ten of these belong to the Commonwealth. Those countries are Australia, Canada, Cyprus, Fiji, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, The Bahamas, and United Ki...

Greetings from Wonderful Copenhagen

Update of the last 5 months in DenmarkSubmitted by Helen Lexner-Munck, Country Liaison, DenmarkWhen we started our dragon boat season in April of this year, the weather was cold, grey, and very windy. The strong winds especially have been quite annoying and more intensive than normal. It has been a challenge for us when we were out in the harbour struggling with our very heavy, old boat, water traffic, often rain and strong winds.In June we joined the Hannover Dragon Boat event and had such a wo...