Edmonton breast cancer survivors turned dragon boat racers headed to New Zealand
A team of friends and breast cancer survivors are headed to New Zealand in April to represent Edmonton in an international dragon boat racing competition.
The uptake of dragon boating by breast cancer survivors began in Canada in response to previous advice that survivors should avoid upper body exercises to prevent lymphedema. British Columbia experts proved in a clinical study using dragon boating that exercise during and after treatment is more beneficial than harmful.
Edmonton's team – called Breast Friends – was formed in 1998 to join the movement.
The team headed to New Zealand consists of 23 women, while the club has more than 70 members, all of whom survived breast cancer.
Colleen Hemsley learned about the team while receiving treatment.
Unable to walk at the time, she thought joining was impossible – until, one day, it wasn't.
"One of the things that I did when I crawled out of that boat after that first race – out of breath, out of wind, out of energy – I went, 'Yes! I did that!'" she recalled during an interview with CTV News Edmonton.
On Saturday, the team was pressing in the indoor paddle tanks at the Leduc Boat Club.
This year will be the first time the Edmonton women compete in the paddle tanks event.
"What it does is simulate the actual paddling action as if you were in a boat, finding that hard water that you need to find and moving through it," explained club president Shannon Turgeon.
"It's a tough sport. It's an intense sport, but the camaraderie is just phenomenal," teammate Alison McIntyre said. "I love going out to places with these girls. It's just fabulous."
That same sentiment was echoed by Hemsley, who when she found the team, found a support system in and out of the water.
"We are here to support each other, to help each other, because we know the journey that we, ourselves, have gone through. And we know that each and every person has gone through a similar journey."
The 2023 IBCPC Participatory Dragon Boat Festival runs April 10-16. Two hundred and forty teams from 30 countries will compete.
With files from Miriam Valdes-Carletti
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in U.S. if legal options fail, Reuters sources say
TikTok owner ByteDance would prefer to shut down its loss-making app rather than sell it if the Chinese company exhausts all legal options to fight legislation to ban the platform from app stores in the U.S., four sources said.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Improve balance and build core strength with this exercise
When it comes to cardiovascular fitness, you may tend to focus on activities that move you forward, such as walking, running and cycling.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.