A Rowdy Weekend

Even in Peterborough, a city that is far enough away from the Greater Toronto Area to escape that ‘North of Barrie’ mindset, it happened again on Friday night. The Warriors of Hope, North Bay’s only full-time dragonboat racing team, were in Peterborough to attend their first Dragonboat Festival of the year, and especially to hear Dr Don McKenzie speak at the opening banquet.

Dr McKenzie is the man who started the dragonboat racing program for breast cancer survivors in Vancouver. Not an oncologist, Dr McKenzie was studying lymphodema, a condition so often present after breast cancer surgery. Before Dr Don’s groundbreaking work, it was generally accepted by the medical profession that after breast cancer, the patient would have very limited arm and upper body mobility, particularly if they had symptoms of lymphodema. With a boat-full of breast cancer patients, he set out to prove that the profession was mistaken. Now, in 2007, the worldwide network of breast cancer survivor dragon boat teams has made his point.

The Warriors learned that Dr McKenzie has not stopped his work and his new lab / gym is now looking at the benefits of exercise for all cancer patients. The awareness created by the Survivors has been instrumental in helping to raise funds for his research and he generously thanked the 211 breast cancer survivors at the banquet for their help. They, of course, were more than happy to return the thank you as they all appreciate what the programme has done to improve their lives after breast cancer.

Breast cancer survivors, like the Warriors, are an inspiration, not only to women and men who have had breast cancer, but also to anyone who has faced the big C. There is talk in the dragonboat circuit of having a special Cancer Survivors division, and nothing would please Dr McKenzie more. Dr Don ended his address by talking about the other big C and that is where the ‘Rowdy’ part comes in . . .

The reception of hoots and howls that the mistress of ceremonies received when she introduced The Warriors of Hope as being from Thunder Bay may have set the tone for the North Bay team being called that Rowdy Bunch in the centre of the hall. That a few of the Warriors enjoy a sip of the grape with their meal (or anytime) despite the coach’s admonitions, may have raised the eyebrows of some of the more staid members of the audience, but the Warriors never were shy about expressing themselves, either at parties or on the water.

The other Big C that Dr Don was talking about was Competition. While the members of the twelve breast cancer survivor teams that would compete on the water the next morning might tell you that it was Comradeship that counted, they all get the adrenalin flowing when they step into the boat. Competition is a healthful state of mind and physical preparedness, but as McKenzie has explained to more than one audience, the real competition for survivors is against that boat in the outside lane, and all the survivors have faced it already. They are paddling with one thought in mind and that is to defer losing that final race for as long as possible.

And if you can do that with a certain bit of rowdiness, all the better! There is only one qualification for being a Warrior and getting into the race, and McKenzie lauded those teams who include everyone in all events. With less than thirty members, the Warriors have no difficulty in getting everyone a seat during race day, whereas teams with fifty or more members find it difficult to find seats for everyone unless they enter more than one team in the races. The doctor encouraged everyone to compete but reminded them to keep their focus on that dark boat in the outside lane.

All that being true, Saturday the Rowdy little team from North Bay (they may re-name themselves as being from Powassan as fully a quarter of the team are from that area and how could you mix up Powassan and Thunder Bay) set out to challenge the eleven other teams. Try as they did, they could not catch the Knot A Breast team from Hamilton. In the Survivor division, challenging for the first McKenzie Cup, the Warriors came second.

Of the 95 teams registered, there were 32 women’s only teams at the Peterborough Festival and The Rowdies and Knot A Breast faced off again in the championship for the Women’s division (three of the four finalists teams were Survivor teams!). Again, a second-place finish to Hamilton was the result but a very satisfactory day for the Warriors.

The rowdiness continued throughout dinner after the races, but by the time the bus reached Orillia, the only one singing was the bus driver. The next event for the Warriors is in Hamilton on July 7th, followed by the North Bay Festival on July 21st. That too may be a rowdy weekend as it is the coach’s wedding day and there may be a little Warriors’ celebration on and off the water.


(A collection of Perspectives columns is now available in soft cover: “Perspectives”)