Breast Cancer Action Kingston & South East Ontario
Serving Kingston & South Eastern Ontario
Chestmates Dragon Boat Team
Chestmates is the only Breast Cancer Survivor Dragon Boat team in the catchment serviced by the South Eastern Regional Cancer Centre. To be a member of Chestmates, a paddler must have had breast cancer.
Each paddler must consult with their physician to ensure it is safe to paddle, in particular if you have just completed your course of treatment.
Because Dragon Boating is a physical sport, we recommend a good solid level of fitness which can be enhanced by engaging in the free fitness programs offered at BCAK.
Chestmates provides the coaching, and equipment you need to paddle. The team connection is amazing – we paddle to bring hope and awareness to others with the diagnosis of breast cancer.
Our team paddles out of Collins Bay Marina, twice a week from 6 to 7 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays between May and September.
Our member's ages have ranged from 20+ to 80+, and we still have original paddlers from 2003 paddling in our dragon boat in 2022!
Chestmates Dryland Training Exercises
Available HERE
We welcomed "HOPE" to our team Aug. 2022
Meet The 2022 Team
Audrey Harvey
Christine Styles
Darlene Evans
Deena Rasky
Donna Hackett
Fizzabai Burton
Heather Jamieson
Helen Tolles
Huw Davies (steers person)
Iris Little
Jane Kitchen
Jo-Ann Kennedy
Kim Gruetzman
Lesley Thompson
Lilian Davies
Linda Jackson (co-captain)
Lori Cox (co-captain)
Lynne Funnell
Maggie Daicar
Mary Peel
Mary-Lynne Ascough
Mary Weston
Nancy Lemont
Patty Lotton
Renata Bianchi
Sandra Tomlinson
Sarah Arrowsmith
Sarah Emery (coach)
Sarah Young
Sheila Menard
Sheila York
Susan Cross
Suzanne Smith
Tammy MacDonald
Willi Clark
Willie Kyer
Stratford Rotary Dragon Boat Festival September 17-18, 2022
Feeling honoured to have been with these courageous ladies at the Stratford Rotary 2022 Dragon Boat Festival this past weekend. We began the day paddling hard with our “get-er-done” push for all 3 races.
A huge part of our festivals is experiencing the sisterhood with our BCS dragon boat teams as we raft together for the Carnation Ceremony. Stratford is a beautiful venue for this ceremony. We pushed off from rafting and paddled around the island 2 times while thinking of those we have lost and others going through treatments taking time to toss our carnations into the water with them in our thoughts.
Love you all and Paddles Up! Lori Cox, Co-Captain
Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival Vancouver June 24-26, 2022
Our first and largest Festival was June 24-26, 2022 The Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival in Vancouver which has sistered with our Canadian Organization PAC (Paddlers Abreast Canada).
At this event we celebrated 25 years of Breast Cancer Survivor Dragon Boating in Canada where it all began.
We went with only 18 paddlers. We were able to "borrow" two paddlers for our first races to fill the boat but were unable to in the finals.
We went with
- 18 paddlers
- a coach
- a steersperson
- 2 supports - one was a past paddler
All of which are members of BCAK
What an amazing festival and we had amazing results.
We beat our average for 500m in every race and also improved our times in each.
Our time of 2:20.268 in the final was our best time ever in not only 500m but also 400m.
This time was also better than everyone in A and C finals placing us 5th out of 19 teams.
What a great group of paddlers.
Congratulations to us all and be proud.
Paddles Up
Lynne Funnell, President BCAK & Paddler
We had so much fun in Vancouver. We went with solid bonds and pure excitement and have definitely returned with even stronger connections and love for each other. A truly amazing experience that none of us will ever forget and we are still riding high on continued excitement which shows in every stroke we make at our practices back here in Kingston.
It was amazing to watch all races and to see how much our new paddlers embraced the comraderie with not just our team members, but all those other Canadian team members that we had the pleasure to encounter through this journey. That is a huge part of our BCS Festivals, having the opportunity to bond with other sister team survivors. The icing on the cake is of course crossing that finish line as your adrenaline is at its peak….being a Chestmate is such an amazing privilege. Thank you BCAK. Lori Cox, Co-Captain
WHAT OUR PADDLERS SAY
In 2007 I joined and fell in love with dragon boating which was not something that I ever thought I would do as I wasn’t a big fan of water.
That was 14 years ago, and I am still loving paddling. I’m so proud to be a chestmate and part of an awesome and amazing group of women.
I was welcomed from day 1 and have made lifelong friendships. I had 4 brothers growing up, but I now have a boatful of sisters. The support and strength I’ve gotten is beyond amazing
Chestmates welcome all survivors and their families. I’d highly recommend it.
Lynne Funnell
President-BREAST CANCER ACTION KINGSTON
I want to say to everyone, Sarah, Lori, Heather and BCAK board members, and all the other wonderful women I have met during the short time I have been a member of this group, a huge thank you for your warmth and love. I don't know most of your names but I hope my young seatmate Sue is on this list.
Breast cancer was the last thing I ever thought would happen to me and I was horrified when, at age 81, I got my diagnosis in May 2021, but having breast cancer and being able to join the Chestmates has introduced me to women I would probably never otherwise have met so as the saying goes, "Every cloud has a silver lining,"
I plan to stay fit this winter and look forward to paddling next summer and going to Vancouver with all of you in June.
Maggie Daicar
Breast Cancer Dragon Boat History in Canada - Dr Donald McKenzie
In 1996, Donald McKenzie, a sports medicine physician and exercise physiologist, initiated and developed a physical training program for the benefit of 24 breast cancer survivors. When women living with the disease began to challenge the notion that they should lead physically-restricted lives after surgery, Dr. Mckenzie formed and coached the "Abreast in a Boat" Dragon Boat paddling team consisting entirely of women who have survived breast cancer. Thanks to his initiative, most provinces in Canada now have a breast cancer dragon boat team. His remarkable achievements, enhanced by his guidance and caring, have given breast cancer survivors across Canada a sense of confidence and pride, and a lifeline to a better existence.
https://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2018/11/30/sandy-smith-mckenzie-harris-frost
Governor General announces 135 new appointments to the Order of Canada
December 29, 2021
Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, announced 135 appointments to the Order of Canada. The new appointees include 2 Companions (C.C.), 39 Officers (O.C.), 1 honorary Member and 93 Members (C.M.).
The Order of Canada is one of our country’s highest civilian honours. Its Companions, Officers and Members take to heart the motto of the Order: DESIDERANTES MELIOREM PATRIAM ("They desire a better country").
Created in 1967, the Order of Canada recognizes outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation. More than 7,000 people from all sectors of society have been invested into the Order. Those who bear the Order’s iconic snowflake insignia have changed our nation’s measure of success and, through the sum of their accomplishments, have helped us build a better Canada.
Donald Chisholm McKenzie, O.C., M.S.M.
Sidney, British Columbia
For his expertise in sports medicine and for his seminal research on the effectiveness of exercise as an intervention for breast cancer patients.