London athletes part of dominant Canadian team at World Dragon Boat Racing Championships

This is the first year that breast cancer survivors are competing in their own division at the World Dragon Boat Racing Championships in Brandenburg, Germany and the Canadian team won two gold medals on the first day of racing.

Ten members of the Canadian Breast Cancer Paddler (BCP) team, along with their coach, Cheryl McLachlin, are members of Rowbust—-the London Dragon Boat Club's BCP team that trains on Fanshawe Lake. On Monday, they competed in the 2000 metre races for standard and small boat, winning first in both.

"To watch the athletes leave the dock for the first time in a world division, run a clean race and excel to gold was amazing," she said. "Then to watch them mount up onto the podium in that gold position and enjoy our anthem as our flag went up the pole…amazing"

The tradition of BCP teams began here in Canada. The first team was formed in Vancouver in 1995 by Dr. Don MacKenzie, a sports medicine doctor researching the physical and social benefits of paddling for breast cancer survivors. Since then, it has become popular worldwide with over 300 teams across nearly 40 countries.

Despite the growing number of BCP teams, they have never been able to enter a national team at the world championships. The push for inclusion had been ongoing since around 2009, McLachlan said.

"This is the stage we wanted to be on," she said.

The Forest City is well represented on the team. Besides McLachlan as coach, there are eight paddlers, along with one steersperson and one drummer from London's Rowbust. Linda Kuska, one of the paddlers, has been a member of Rowbust for 26 years. When the opportunity arose to try out for the national team, there was no hesitation, she said.

"You've got to do it while you can, and I really, really wanted to be part of this inaugural team."

"And it was an amazing experience. Being a 62-year-old breast cancer survivor athlete, I never thought that I would see this kind of competition in my competitive career."

Overall, the Canadian teams won 13 gold, nine silver and five bronze medals on the first day, with athletes from The London Dragon Boat Club also paddling on the Senior A, Senior B, U18 and Para teams. The championships continue through Sunday, and the BCP team is feeling energized, McLachlan said.

"We really have to keep our foot on the gas tomorrow," she said. "But I feel good right now."

"We can't lose sight of what our goal is," added Kuska. "We'll take it one day at a time, one hour at a time, and get out on that water and do our best."