Gilda's Dragon Boats
We are a passionate dragon boat team of women who have all dealt with cancer at some point in our lives. Our focus is to raise public awareness of cancer and life after cancer, employ the best of dragon boat techniques, work hard, build friendships and have fun. We want our boat to fly and our spirits to soar. We don’t just want to paddle, we want to paddle exceptionally well and be regarded as competitive. It’s a vigorous search for life and well being and we embrace the challenge.
It all started with four women and one dream: the dream to launch a one-of-a-kind dragon boat team for women survivors of all types of cancer. That dream became a reality in the winter of 2002/2003 when a team was formed and pool training began. Then in the spring of 2003 20 of us came together for our first in-boat practice on the water as a team and we haven’t looked back since.
Dragon boating opens up so many doors. It empowers you to reach new heights of fitness, strength, commitment and camaraderie. We have all been able to do things through our training and racing that we didn’t think were possible and that’s an incredible feeling of accomplishment. A dragon boat is a long canoe which consists of a drummer, 20 paddlers sitting two by two and a steersperson. Dragon boating is the fastest growing sport in the world right now.
It’s difficult to explain what it feels like when we all paddle together and the boat glides in perfect rhythm. It can be described as joyful and addictive – to be topped only by the feeling of winning a race together. Unbeatable.
Gilda's Dragons are:
- A passionate team of women who have dealt with cancer
- A team with a positive outlook on life and fitness
- A warm supportive group of women who enjoy paddling, competing and having fun!
For more information on Gilda's Dragons , please contact Karen Townsend at karen.townsend@rogers.com.
