Dragon boat racing began in China more than 2000 years ago when according to
folklore a young poet fell afoul of the reigning king. He was banished from
court and returned to drown himself in despair. Because the people dearly loved
him, they entered the water in large boats to throw rice to nourish his soul and
to beat their drums loudly to scare away the fish from his body. The large
brightly coloured dragonheads on their boats symbolized the powerful dragons
that would protect their young patriot. A hero to the people thereafter, a
festival occurred every year to celebrate his young life  Breast cancer survivors were introduced to the sport in 1996, as the result
of a study by Dr. Don McKenzie, a sports medicine researcher from Vancouver, BC. "Dr. Don" wanted to disprove the theory that women with breast cancer surgery (lymph node dissection) should not participate in strenuous upper body exercise because it was thought to cause lymphedema, a painful swelling of the arm. His research raised questions about this common belief and through his research other findings emerged: women in the "same boat" enjoyed the benefits of fitness as well as forming supportive relationships as a team. Their quality of life improved! Thanks to Dr. McKenzie and the paddlers of the original Abreast in A Boat crew, we now have more than sixty breast cancer dragon boat teams across Canada and more than 120 teams world wide, including Australia, China, England, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore and United States.   Dr. Don McKenzie Team with Dr. Don Vancouver 2005 |
Why Dragon Boat Racing? |