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A group of breast cancer survivors from Saskatoon is paddling into international waters.
The dragon boat racing team Busting with Energy heads to France Wednesday to go up against other teams from across the world.
“I can’t describe how much life it gives you when you’re out on the water with a group of people who have experienced the same thing,” team member Kerry Neal told CBC.
She first heard about the team while receiving chemotherapy and joined as soon as she was feeling better.
“Just the team dynamic, to be around almost 40 people this year who have gone through similar issues, is really encouraging,” she said.
The women jokingly refer to themselves as “the team no one wants to join,” because membership is only open to people who have gone through a breast cancer diagnosis.
Why dragon boating helps
Neal joined the sport to help with lymphedema, a swelling in the legs or arms caused by a blockage in the lymphatic system that can develop any time after breast surgery and the removal of lymph nodes.
The sport is one of the best exercises for rehabilitating muscles and lymph nodes affected by breast cancer surgeries.
That fact wasn’t known until a medical group in Vancouver launched the first breast cancer dragon boat team in 1996.
At that time it was suggested that women who’d had breast surgery should limit sports that encourage upper arm movement, such as canoeing.
The myth was disproven with the Vancouver team, and the concept of breast cancer dragon boating has now taken off worldwide.
“This team is an example of letting women know that there is life after you’ve had breast cancer, after you’ve gone through those treatments,” Anne Eagle, the team’s president, told CBC.
“You can resume your life. It might look different, but you can do it and do it well.”
Eagle’s diagnosis was 12 years ago, and she has been in the group for six years.
She said people join to get stronger, but stay for the life-long connections they make with others who have a shared story.
“I’ve been through it all, and here I am,” Eagle said.
“And I remember when I was at the beginning I needed people like me to inspire me and keep me going, give me hope. And that is what our group is.”
The Busting with Energy dragon boat team from Saskatoon will unite with 4,500 other breast cancer survivors from around the world at a festival in France this month.
The program features 12 weeks of dryland training starting in February, then practices on the South Saskatchewan River by May.
Women of all fitness levels and ages are on the team, ranging all the way up to over 80 years of age.
“There is an older lady who sits in front of me and sometimes I just want to quit because it’s hard,” Eagle said. “But no, she just keeps going. I think, well, if a 80-something-year-old woman in front of me can do this, I can do this.”
Busting with Energy is one of 320 teams competing in the 2026 IBCPC Participatory Dragon Boat Festival on the shores of Lac du Bourget in France.
The non-competitive gathering will unite around 4,500 breast cancer survivors from around the world.
There are now more than 50 breast cancer dragon boat racing teams in Canada and over 210 worldwide.
