Origin of Dragon Boating

The Dragon Boat Festival commemorates the death of popular poet Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in the Miluo River during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) in protest against the Chu Kingdom’s corrupt rulers. A reformer and patriot, Qu became the victim of a slander campaign and was banished by the Chu rulers. Qu took his own life on hearing that a rival state had conquered the kingdom. It is believed that the people of the town raced in boats to rescue Qu. In trying to do so, they beat drums to scare off fish and threw dumplings in the water to lure them away from Qu’s body. The festival's origins were in Central China. Now it is celebrated across China and in around 50 other countries and regions.

Why breast cancer survivors paddle

In 1995 Dr Don McKenzie, a sports medicine physician at the University of British Columbia, started researching the issue of rehabilitation following diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Current opinion had prevailed that the avoidance of strenuous exercise was necessary to prevent lymphoedema or swelling of the arm where lymph nodes had been removed. Dr McKenzie believed that upper body exercise has a role in recovery from breast cancer and lymphoedema because it can improve range of motion and reverse muscle atrophy, activate skeletal muscle (which may help pump lymph), and stimulate the immune system.

To test his theories he formed a dragon boat team in Vancouver in February 1996. The only criteria for joining were a history of breast cancer; age, athletic ability and paddling experience were not considered.

Dragon boating was chosen for several reasons:

• It is a strenuous, repetitive upper body activity.
• It is non-weight bearing and therefore associated with a lower risk of injury than weight dependant activities such as running.
• It uses predominantly upper extremity and trunk muscles, and the improvement in strength has a carry-over effect to day-to-day activity.
• The training intensity can be varied simply by pulling harder

That first team had their first look at a dragon boat in April, trained twice weekly on the water through April, May and June, and then competed in their first race at the Vancouver Festival in late June 1996.

The findings were compelling. The paddlers showed a marked improvement in both physical and mental health. Several women reported improved range of motion of their shoulders and there were no cases of lymphoedema. To other people with breast cancer, the women paddlers have become role models, giving inspiration to lead full and active lives.

Today that first team has grown to over 110 worldwide, all reaching out to other women and offering them a message of hope and support.