Team heads to New Zealand for international dragon boat festival
Prairie Dragon Paddlers will be making its team debut on the world stage at the 2023 International Dragon Boat Festival from April 10-16 in New Zealand.
This worldwide festival is held every three to four years under the auspices of the International Breast Cancer Paddlers’ Commission. It is a non-competitive, participatory event attended by some 4,000-5,000 breast cancer survivor paddlers from 30 countries. In addition to several days of dragon boat racing, they come together to meet in fellowship and to support one another.
Fifteen PDP team members from Champaign and Piatt counties, plus one paddler from the Indy SurviveOars (Indiana’s only breast cancer survivor dragon boat team), will be making the trip to Lake Karapiro, Waikato, on New Zealand’s North Island. In addition to the events and activities of the festival, the travelers will also tour some of the sites in the region and learn more about the indigenous Māori culture.
“PDP offers a rock-solid sisterhood that helps women in our community become their best selves and show up for each other through the good and the bad,” said Vanessa Faurie, immediate past president of the PDP board. “To transport that energy and love from central Illinois and combine it with that of thousands from throughout the world who have had similar experiences is life-affirming and life-changing.”
A few individuals from Prairie Dragon Paddlers attended the last international festival on their own in Florence, Italy, back in 2018 before the pandemic halted the event for several years.
Dragon boating is an ancient water sport that, since the 1990s, has become a growing rehabilitation therapy for tens of thousands of women (and men) worldwide who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. A full boat is typically powered by 20 paddlers seated in 10 rows of two, a caller at the front and a steer person at the back. Survivors across the world have formed dragon boat teams and are paddling and racing regularly—promoting good health, individual and group empowerment, and breast cancer awareness. An emerging body of research suggests physical activity not only has a positive effect on quality of life following a diagnosis of cancer, but it may also improve survival.
The Prairie Dragon Paddlers practice on Homer Lake during the season that runs from April-October (weather permitting) and participate in regional division races.
PDP is also a non-profit organization that works to promote breast cancer awareness, advocate for research, and enhance wellness and survivorship among all those in the area who have had a breast cancer diagnosis.