The Annapolis Dragon Boat Club, a racing team made up of breast cancer survivors and their supporters, will try to do something entirely new this Saturday morning.
The Spa Creek-based club will attempt to set a Guinness World Record by completing “the fastest half marathon paddle of a dragon boat crewed entirely by breast cancer survivors.”
A dragon boat holds 20 paddlers, plus a drummer in the bow and a steer person with a long oar in the stern. Paddlers must rotate their bodies as they stroke in a synchronized vertical motion.
The Annapolis Dragon Boat Club, and its accompanying charitable foundation, were born in 2010, when breast cancer survivor and former McGarvey’s Saloon owner Mike Ashford learned that dragon boat racing could help breast cancer patients rehabilitate. Since then, the club’s membership has grown to about 90 strong.
You can cheer the boat club on from the Annapolis City Dock, as they race from 8:00 a.m. to noon.
Chesapeake Bay Magazine featured the club in our August issue. To read Laura Boycourt’s story, click here.
