Twenty-two members of Peterborough’s Survivors Abreast dragon boat team and their coach are heading to France to participate in an international festival celebrating sport, friendship, and life after breast cancer.
According to a media release, Survivors Abreast will represent Peterborough and the surrounding area at the International Breast Cancer Paddlers’ Commission Participatory Dragon Boat Festival, which runs from August 24 to 30 in Aix-les-Bains in the French Alps.
Held every three to four years, the international festival is expected to bring together 4,500 breast cancer survivors on 170 teams, making it the largest event of its kind ever held. The commission has more than 300 member teams across 37 countries.
The parade of nations and opening ceremonies will take place on Thursday, August 27, followed by two days of racing on Lac du Bourget, France’s largest natural glacial lake.
Survivors Abreast will compete as team number 46 in three 500-metre races and three 200-metre races.
The festival will also include the Sandy Smith Global Finale race, a special flower ceremony honouring those who have died from breast cancer, and closing ceremonies on August 29.
With help from their coach, the Peterborough paddlers have been training to improve their technique and endurance while learning to paddle as one.
“Strength is not in one paddle alone, but in every heartbeat moving forward,” the coach tells the team.
The Peterborough team includes breast cancer survivors in various stages of treatment, recovery, and survivorship. Along with veteran paddlers who have participated in previous international festivals, several newer members will be attending the global event for the first time.
Breast cancer survivor dragon boat paddling began at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver in 1996, when sports medicine professor and exercise physiologist Dr. Don McKenzie challenged the prevailing medical advice that women treated for breast cancer should avoid strenuous upper-body exercise because of the risk of developing lymphedema.
McKenzie trained 24 breast cancer survivors for three months before introducing them to dragon boat paddling. At the end of their first season on the water, none of the participants had developed lymphedema and they reported being fitter, healthier, and happier.
The participants also found companionship and mutual support through the sport, helping inspire an international movement that uses dragon boat paddling to promote active living and raise awareness that people can live full lives after a breast cancer diagnosis.
As for Survivors Abreast, the team is best known for hosting Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival. The annual event celebrated its 25th anniversary in June and has raised more than $5 million for equipment used to screen, diagnose, and treat breast and other cancers at Peterborough Regional Health Centre.
Survivors Abreast hosted the international dragon boat festival in Peterborough in 2010, and the team later attended the festivals in Sarasota (Florida) in 2014, Florence (Italy) in 2018, and Waikato (New Zealand) in 2023.
In the media release, the team thanked community members who have supported its fundraising efforts through fashion shows, golf tournaments, yard sales, and wine cork collections.
The races can be watched live at live.ibcpcfrance2026.com.
