Twenty years ago, four women decided there should be a dragon boat racing team for breast cancer survivors in North Bay.
Mariclaire Barry Archer remembers the efforts made by Tish Wilson, Sharon Journeau, Louise Walker and herself, as all four ladies set out to build a team.
”Tish Wilson was the original person who saw an article in a magazine about the breast cancer team in Vancouver. We just called her our little darling. The people she talked to were eager to hop on board. She was so passionate about it.”
Diana Walton was an original team member of the Warriors of Hope dragon boat team and continues to paddle today.
“Tish Wilson was very energetic. She went after a Trillium Grant which enabled us to purchase a dragon boat, and she managed to get a Scotia Bank grant and with that startup, they began a campaign to recruit paddlers.”
The original team consisted of 35 to 40 women.
Aided by Olympic athlete Dan Howe and Larry Shepherd who specializes in strength and sports conditioning, a program was designed specifically for the women.
The team began training at the YMCA.
“You had to sit at the edge of the pool and lean over. It was Dan Howe’s idea that we should learn how to at least use a paddle before we got in the boat,” said Walton.
“They had just had their first baby, and we had the ‘Y’ at seven o’clock in the morning on a Sunday, and they brought that baby over at that time. I said if these young folks can be here at this hour on a Sunday morning with a baby, there’s no excuse for me to stay home.”
Walton and Barry Archer were reminiscing during the launch of the team’s 20th season at a ceremony at Olmsted Beach.
Joined by members past and present, family and friends lined the beach as members paddled the dragon boat to the Trout Lake location.
“Things have progressed a lot over the years because all the teams have become more competitive, upping their training,” said Walton.
“I remember when we first started, we thought a good race pace was about 45 strokes a minute. Now in a race, we do about 70. So, the training has really gotten more challenging. We’ve had women in their 30’s and as old as 80 in the boat at the same time.”
She calls in “an experience like no other.”
“You know the expression about everyone being in the same boat, it brings that expression to life because everyone in the boat has struggled with this disease and is continuing to combat it. We all know what it is to be there, and the support is phenomenal.”
Walton’s husband Bill was diagnosed with breast cancer three years ago and has joined his wife as a team member.
“I’ve talked to a few men about my diagnosis. I think there’s some embarrassment there yet, but they don’t realize that men have breasts and they can get this cancer. It is about one in a thousand. So, I’m the token male on the team,” Walton grinned.
He recalls the time 20 years ago when his wife joined the team.
“We were one of the first teams in Ontario and the first team to have any training. So, we pretty much kicked everybody’s butt all across Ontario in the first two or three years,” laughed Walton.
“Then everybody else started training and it got more popular. But I think over the past 20 years we’ve had good success.”
Walton says the Warriors of Hope have generated a great deal of awareness in the community.
“The word is out, and I think a lot has happened in awareness about what you can do if you’ve had breast cancer. You can be a lot more energetic than originally thought, so that word has improved a lot. And of course, treatment has improved. We have one lady three months out of chemo paddling with us because she knew she could. Everybody who goes in the boat just loves it.”
Another team member, Johanne Bourgeois received her breast cancer diagnosis in 2008 and joined the team a few years later.
She calls it “lifesaving.”
“There’s no other word for it. This is life-saving to hang out with a bunch of women who have gone through the same thing as I have, breast cancer, and we’re all survivors,” said Bourgeois.
“We just hang out. We have one common goal and that is to paddle this great big, humungous boat. We have this comradery that is hard to explain. We don’t talk about having breast cancer, and that is the best thing, but if we need to, you know there’s always somebody there to talk to.”
The team named their dragon Jane.
“It is for all the unknown. It is for all the women who did not make it, and who did not get a chance to survive the illness, who weren’t lucky like me and all the other women here.”
Bourgeois has a message for any survivor thinking about joining the team.
“You don’t need to be fit to get in this boat because I wasn’t, and I’m not. Your only requirement is to be a survivor. And I’ll shout it every day, ‘I am a survivor.’”
A carnation ceremony was held to remember all those who have fought and continue to fight this dreaded disease.
