2018: Arno River, Florence, Italy
We joined over 129 teams from 17 countries to race up the Arno River in Florence as part of the ICBCP Dragon Boat Festival and came 2nd! The festival is held every 4 years, the one in Florence being the most recent - 6-8 July 2018.
We broke our personal best record in the first race, with a time of 2 minutes 22 seconds and then broke it again in the final, shaving off a second. We missed out on the top spot by about 0.9 of a second, with Canadian team, Knot a Breast, coming first - as they did in this same event in 2014. The races were all 500m.
CanSurvive was 1 of 3 teams from New Zealand taking part with our fellow paddlers in Boobops and Abreast of Life, both who finished in the top 15.
An amazing achievement!
We broke our personal best record in the first race, with a time of 2 minutes 22 seconds and then broke it again in the final, shaving off a second. We missed out on the top spot by about 0.9 of a second, with Canadian team, Knot a Breast, coming first - as they did in this same event in 2014. The races were all 500m.
CanSurvive was 1 of 3 teams from New Zealand taking part with our fellow paddlers in Boobops and Abreast of Life, both who finished in the top 15.
An amazing achievement!
Media coverage
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2016: Lake Kawana, AustraliaWe competed at the 2016 Dragons Abreast Australia National Regatta, 17-18 June, Lake Kawana, Sunshine Coast, Queensland. We won the 200m knockout race, were the overall winners of the breast cancer survivor division of the 2km race, and the official 200m race.
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In the 2km race we were not overtaken by any other boats and were the overall winners of the breast cancer division with a time of 11.55.10. The winning team was a mixed supporters team, Dragons Abreast Gold Coast.
A knockout challenge followed where boats took part in a 200m race with the last boat 'knocked out'.The boats then turn around and race 200m again - this continued until the 3 fastest boats are identified. CanSurvive won this event.
We won the official 200m final the next day in a time of 56 seconds.
About 450 paddlers took part in the regatta, which also included workshops for sweeps, drummers and coaches - and fun bellydancing and tai chi workshops. The event ended with the Celebration of Life dinner, involving a live band and lots of dancing!
A knockout challenge followed where boats took part in a 200m race with the last boat 'knocked out'.The boats then turn around and race 200m again - this continued until the 3 fastest boats are identified. CanSurvive won this event.
We won the official 200m final the next day in a time of 56 seconds.
About 450 paddlers took part in the regatta, which also included workshops for sweeps, drummers and coaches - and fun bellydancing and tai chi workshops. The event ended with the Celebration of Life dinner, involving a live band and lots of dancing!
2014: Sarasota, Florida
We competed at the 2014 IBCPC Participatory Dragon Boat Festival, 24-26 October, Nathan Benderson Park, Sarasota, Florida ..... and came third after teams from Ontario, Canada and Pittsburg, USA.
Watch the race!
What happened
After training on Wellington harbour - come hail, strong winds, and rain - our team of 23 paddlers, coach and our manager, left for Sarasota on 19 October. This gave us time to get acclimatised before training and competing later in the week.
We had short practice sessions on the Thursday and Friday before racing. Check out this video of us training at Sarasota:
CanSurvive Training - IBCP Facebook
On Saturday 25 October, we competed in two races to make it through to the semifinals the next day. With our times of 2.42.66 (Race 13), and 2.36.47 (Race 23), we earned a place in the top 16 teams to race in the semifinals.
On Sunday 26 October, we had to be placed in the top four of our race (Race 39) to make the finals - our time of 2.35.82 got us there. In the finals (Race 52), we placed third with a time of 2.28.53 - this was also a personal best time for us. Knot A Breast (from Ontario, Canada) came first with a time of 2.25.91 and Pink Steel (Pittsburgh, USA) came second 2.26.60.
Final Race Results
We had short practice sessions on the Thursday and Friday before racing. Check out this video of us training at Sarasota:
CanSurvive Training - IBCP Facebook
On Saturday 25 October, we competed in two races to make it through to the semifinals the next day. With our times of 2.42.66 (Race 13), and 2.36.47 (Race 23), we earned a place in the top 16 teams to race in the semifinals.
On Sunday 26 October, we had to be placed in the top four of our race (Race 39) to make the finals - our time of 2.35.82 got us there. In the finals (Race 52), we placed third with a time of 2.28.53 - this was also a personal best time for us. Knot A Breast (from Ontario, Canada) came first with a time of 2.25.91 and Pink Steel (Pittsburgh, USA) came second 2.26.60.
Final Race Results
Media coverage |
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About the event
Held every four years, this festival is an exciting international event for breast cancer survivors. The 2014 event was the first to happen in the US and was hosted by two Florida BCS teams, The Pink Dragon Ladies® of Tampa and Save Our Sisters® of Miami.
The festival is a participatory event - with an emphasis on taking part and the survivorship and sisterhood of breast cancer survivors.
The venue was the Nathan Benderson Park - a new man-made water sports venue. The 2014 IBCPC Participatory Festival was the first major international sporting event to be held there.
See us at the festival: Photos
2014 IBCPC Participatory Dragon Boat Festival - Facebook
The festival is a participatory event - with an emphasis on taking part and the survivorship and sisterhood of breast cancer survivors.
The venue was the Nathan Benderson Park - a new man-made water sports venue. The 2014 IBCPC Participatory Festival was the first major international sporting event to be held there.
See us at the festival: Photos
2014 IBCPC Participatory Dragon Boat Festival - Facebook
Thanks to our supporters
We were lucky to have Martha Brown, a Sarasota local and volunteer, as our US festival ambassador. Martha was really helpful, great fun, and spoilt us with her homebaked cookies and muffins.
Thanks to our supporters who came over and cheered from the sidelines, our partners and families, those who have contributed to and attended our fundraising events to get to Florida, and of course our sponsors.
Thanks to our supporters who came over and cheered from the sidelines, our partners and families, those who have contributed to and attended our fundraising events to get to Florida, and of course our sponsors.
