The Malaga Dragon Boat BCS (Breast Cancer Survivor) team is pioneer in Andalusia in this activity and the fourth team in Spain. It was created in 2018 by the oncologist Julia Ruiz Vozmediano. She started this activity in the city of Malaga with the support of the Real Club Mediterráneo, one of the most important and historical paddling clubs in the country.
It is currently made up of more than 30 women, who practice this sport in two different styles, rowing bench-fixed and dragon boat paddeling, however, our focus along with the rest of the teams of the BCS movement, is the Dragon Boat, due to its health benefits.
Our first regatta was at the Intercontinental Festival of Torrevieja “Memorial Jan Collins”. Even though it was the first time we were in a dragon boat, and were in a competition, we won. In 2019, we were winners of the festival, with both local and foreign teams. This regatta is the only one exclusively for the BCS category. The very same year we participated in the European Club Championship in Seville. We have continued to participate in regional championships and International festivals in Spain. We started to compete only in 200m but nowadays we also do it in 500 and 2,000m.
As we like to travel and share experiences, we have been participating in the “Barcelona International Dragon Boat Fest” for two years in a row, and now in 2024, it will be our third time going. This year's goal for the Festival is to reach over 1,000 participants from more than 20 different countries, and the last day is always dedicated to raise awareness about cancer with the slogan “paddle against cancer”.
Our first participation in this Festival was very important to us for different reasons. It was our first important trip after the Covid-19 pandemic, the first flight for a partner who now always travels in our backpacks and hearts, and the first time we were recognized as a team as we got the medal for “most integrated team”, due to the fact our team was made up of the largest number of participants from different clubs from Spain and Italy, promoting the BCS movement. We enjoy attending this festival in Barcelona. It’s always a pleasure to return to this great Spanish city in the Mediterranean.
But that's not all. Last fall we had the opportunity to travel to the cradle of the Dragon Boat, to participate in the IX Sarawak International Dragon Boat Regatta, as part of the Spanish Dragons Team, held in Kuching (Malaysia) along with 2,000 paddlers from 43 teams. We were the only all-female team and the only team with all of its paddlers being cancer survivors.
We won a bronze medal and a cash prize that we donated to a local BCS team in that country to help it set up, the same as we do in Spain, supporting the creation of new BCS teams to increase this movement. Our greatest pride is to carry the name of our city around the world, with the brand #Málaga #Theallroundcity on our sports kit.
Our goal is to continue to travel and expand our network of national and international contacts with the representatives of the Dragon Boat BCS Movement throughout Europe and now all over the world, echoing our motto......“ABREAST IN A BOAT”
MÁLAGA DRAGON BOAT BCS
Asociación Deportiva Nº 13409
Paseo de la Farola, 18. 2016 Málaga.
Email: malagadragonboatbcs@gmail.com
