That's great news Olds!! Allow me to assist in your excitement.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1098266527068
Seeing the world from the seat of a dragon boat
VIVIAN MACDONALD
STRATFORD, ONT.—Listen up, folks. Now you can travel far and wide — on water. And keep fit at the same time.
I'm not talking about a luxury cruise with an occasional stop at the on-board fitness centre. Nope, for this journey, you have to be fit from the get-go or you won't be able to get up and go.
Dragon boat racing. That's the ticket to travel.
In September, the Dragon Boat Festival came to Stratford and the spectacle was fabulous — 60 boats from across Ontario and the northern United States, 11 of them paddled by breast cancer survivors. Old and young were there, ranging from 12 to 72.
I am going to sign up for next year. And with travel in mind. These people aren't just out there on the Avon River. They pack up their paddles and go around the world — Germany, New Zealand, South Africa and this month the world's best will gather in China's great city of Shanghai for the global championships this week , Oct. 21 to 24.
Canada is the defending world champion — a title we won two years ago in Philadelphia — and according to Tour East Holidays of Toronto, the official sponsor of our national entry, over 250 Canadians will be making the trek to Shanghai later this month to witness the spectacle.
It was in China that dragon boat racing got its start, about 2,400 years ago. It was evidently a fertility rite performed to ensure bountiful crops.
"Races were held to ward off misfortune and summon the rains needed for prosperity," according to the Race on the River Web site (
http://www.raceontheriver.com/pages/dragonboat.html). "The dragon was the object of worship believed to control rain and rule the water."
Now races are held the world over, including, of course, in China.
The best news? You don't have to be skilled to join up and no prior experience is necessary.
As for a training program — yes, there is one, according to Lorna Klatecki, 42, co-captain of Stratford's Kupsized team.
"You get in the boat, we hand you a paddle and away you go," she laughs.
Actually, you can ease your way in ... starting with practice at a pool and gradually working up your strength and widening your horizons. Some members of Kupsized, comprising breast cancer survivors aged 40 to 64, travelled to New Zealand in 2003 and to South Africa in 2004 with Canadians Abreast.
Stratford's Silver Masters team travelled to Germany in 2001.
"We had a wonderful time," recalls Peter Roach, 64. He's been paddling a canoe or a dragon boat since he was a kid at the Balmy Beach Club in Toronto.
He and Kevin McCann, both of Stratford, launched the Masters team nine years ago. McCann had to stand on the sidelines on the big day in Stratford, though. He'd injured his back the previous week.
"It's like the day Rocket Richard had to hang up his skates," he says with a wry grin as he watches his teammates prepare for their race.
A dragon boat is almost 12 metres long, one metre wide and weighs 750 kilograms. But you don't have to paddle on your own; each boat holds 22 people — 20 paddlers, a drummer who keeps the beat of the stroke and a steersman. So the sport, which is reportedly the fastest growing in the world, means fun, fitness and friends, as well as travel. There is much generosity and encouragement at these races. Everyone pulls his or her weight, but winning is not all.
"We paddle for fun," adds Klatecki. "We live to win."
Mary Jane Finn, like the other members of her Windsor Wonder Broads team, had no experience with canoes or dragon boats before they took to the water two years ago.
"Some of the women were afraid of the water," she says. "But they persevered, even when we capsized in the pool" as part of the practice. The pool workout program is recommended to build strength.
"We don't encourage people (to start in the boats) in mid-treatment," adds Finn, 60, a breast cancer survivor.
Her teammate, Linda Bishop, 57, is an enthusiastic participant, as is her husband, Steve, who is the steersman on the Wonder Broads boat.
"It got us off the couch," she says. In fact, she's so keen, she spent a week in Florida training with professionals.
"It's empowering," adds Finn.
And you can travel — across the province, across the country or across the world.
