This is only our second season as a team, yet, as with last year, we came home with a medal from the Steveston Regatta in Richmond, BC.
The “Butts and Us” is a mixed team of men and women. All of us are either prostate cancer (i.e., from the “Butts in a Boat” team) or breast cancer (i.e. from “Abreast in a Boat” team) survivors.
The regatta took place on Saturday. August 25th, 2017, on a day with perfect weather. We competed in four races and won silver for our 2nd place finish in the ‘C’ Consolation final. Although we got a silver this year instead of a gold, like last year, we actually did better than last year, for we were competing in a higher ranked division. Our best time was 2:16.6 minutes, which is remarkable good for a team this new made up almost completely of senior members.
Key to our success was the combined managerial and coaching skills of Suzette and Vince Schiralli, as well as back-up steering from Sam Patton and drumming from Bruce Cowan, Simon Venner and Marcia Remple. The Co-Lead from the “Us” side was Heather Trenholm, with Yvonne Stich assisting her in warm-up exercises. The ladies also supplied some great snacks for the crew.
The Steveston Regatta is the last of the session, but we continue to practice in anticipation of entering—and winning—more races next year.
Increasingly the medical literature points to the survival value of exercise for cancer patients. If you have been diagnosed with either breast or prostate cancer, you are welcome to come out for a practice, just to see if you would like to be part of our team. One doesn’t need any previous experience with dragonboat paddling to be on the Butts in a Boat.