Introducing the Los Angeles Pink Dragons from California, USA
- Shirley Horn
- Jan 8, 2016
- 2 min read
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’
“Good morning, Los Angeles! It’s 7 a.m. with sunny skies and the mercury already at 65-degrees. Another beautiful Saturday is shaping up in the Southland.”
How else to begin a post about California’s first Breast Cancer Survivor dragon boat racing team, except to talk about the weather? With an average high temperature of 22C and average low temperature of 13C, we would be nutters not to be on the water and paddling year-round. And that is exactly what we do!
The Los Angeles Pink Dragons were formed in 2003 when Diane McCabe, a breast cancer survivor and member of our affiliate team, the Los Angeles Racing Dragons, had a vision of a team of breast cancer survivors coming together to paddle a dragon boat in the beautiful waters of Alamitos Bay in Long Beach, California. She began to work with Team Survivor LA to recruit a core group of survivors. The team currently has an active roster of about forty paddlers.
Like the Firth of Forth, the Alamitos Bay is salt water. In the bay, we’re subject to tides, currents, and strong offshore winds from the Pacific Ocean. Often in the summer and fall, we paddle against the hot and dry Santa Ana winds (or “Devil Winds”) coming off the Mohave Desert. Conditions that keep our steerspeople on their toes and our paddlers working hard.
The “Pinks” love a good race, and we’re fortunate to have world-class dragon boat racing right here in our backyard. Each July, teams gather from all over the world for the Long Beach Dragon Boat Festival, and the Pinks are always happy to host an out-of-town BCS team during the two-day festival. The team also travels to other racing venues in the western U.S., including an annual trek to Las Vegas for the Rose Regatta, benefitting local breast cancer support programs. In October 2014, we traveled to Sarasota, Florida for the IBCPC International Participatory Festival. This year, we have set our sights on Vancouver, British Columbia, for the Rio Tinto Alcan festival in June.
Inspiring breast cancer survivors to improve their fitness and quality of life following breast cancer diagnosis and treatment is a big part of the Los Angeles Pink Dragons’ mission. We were honoured to represent BCS paddlers worldwide in the 2015 New Year’s Day Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, CA, which is broadcast globally to millions of viewers. The team was featured on the City of South Pasadena’s float entitled, “Still Winning,” designed by one of our teammates.
Our story is your story, Port Edgar Dragons. If we can improve our individual fitness and quality of life, help our teammates to live happier and healthier lives, and inspire other cancer survivors to make the most of every moment, we are fulfilling a great mission, indeed.
They say it never rains in Southern California. Members of the Port Edgar Dragons are cordially invited to stow your brollies, shed your wellies and macs, and come paddle with us in the sunshine anytime of the year.
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