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Tampa Bay's Pink Dragon Ladies

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Shine On, St. Pete

Shine On, St. Pete

PHOTOS/KATHLEEN CABBLE

BY MARCIA BIGGS

Downtown Tampa glides by as the Pink Dragon Ladies practice on the Hillsborough River. Women from all walks of life make up the team.

We glided under the bridge, lifted our paddles and the sleek pink boat slowed to a drift. Before us lay Seddon Channel and Tampa Bay. To the left, Harbor Island and the Tampa Convention Center. To the right, Bayshore Boulevard and below it, the memorial seawall hugging the water with five names painted large, like graffiti, in blocks of pink and purple.

One of the paddlers spoke loudly so all could hear: “Normally, graffiti is against the law, but we got special permission starting back with Mayor Pam Iorio to paint the names of our sisters on the wall. We’ll be adding one more soon, we lost our Donna just recently . … This wall reminds us that we paddle not for us but for those who can no longer be with us.”

We circled the boat around and headed back upriver, we were 19 women and one coach urging us on. We were black, white, Hispanic, young, old, married, single, rich and poor. We had nothing in common, and we had everything in common. Our bond: we were all cancer survivors.

The Memorial Seawall

The Pink Dragons Ladies are one of seven dragon boat paddling teams in Florida and many around the world comprised of fierce female cancer survivors. Formed in 2004, the team has close to 80 on the roster, says membership director Pamm Anderson, but a core group of 40 or so shows up at practice sessions and competes in races.

Practice sessions are held three times a week from Rick’s on the River near downtown Tampa, which also serves as a convenient hangout afterwards for drinks, some food and talk. The camaraderie goes far beyond the river, the boat and the padding. The real mission of “The Pinks,” as they call themselves, is to serve as an inspiration and support to breast cancer survivors and to celebrate life.

Stories From the Sisterhood

Over beers at Rick’s after joining a practice session, my story seemed like peanuts … lumpectomy, one breast, chemo, radiation, two years later back in the saddle. Their stories knocked me out of the ballpark. “Ten years later it came back. I said just take them both.” “First, I had lumpectomies. Then my surgeon told me the cancer was back …. I had positive in one, negative in the other. I got rid of them both. I should have done it from the start.” “I was BRCA positive after I had already had cancer. I said take them both, and my ovaries.”

Felita Wingard surprised everyone when she admitted she moved here from Atlanta “just to paddle with the Pinks.” Now living in St. Petersburg with her husband, she was able to transfer to a corporate position within the insurance company she works at. She has never regretted it. Leigh Steck, a St. Petersburg flight attendant, recently joined the Tampa Bay team. “I like it because everyone is different but we all have something in common,” she said. “I used to be on a roller derby team, and it’s very similar. You have all types, all backgrounds, but you’re all in it for the same thing.”

The slender 40-foot dragon boats hold 20 paddlers, with a coach at the back steering and a drummer at the front setting the pace (only in competition, not in practice I was disappointed to learn). “We were the first team in Florida,” said Pamm Anderson. “Our members are from all over the Tampa Bay area. We compete against other teams around Florida and every four years there is an Olympic-style world competition held in different countries around the world

Last year the team traveled to Florence, Italy, to compete in the global competition. A few months ago, they hauled the dragon boat up to the Villages to try and whomp the team there. It’s all fun, but then again, it’s a fight, just like the cancer. In 2022, the Pinks will head to New Zealand to compete with other pink teams from around the world. Fundraising is on the agenda, of course, and sponsorships. But for now, they practice.

Back in the groove I slipped on my PFD and was assigned a seat in the second row. I had one previous experience paddling a dragon boat, when my company sponsored a corporate team in the Tampa Bay Dragon Boat Festival well over a decade ago. (The festivals happen each spring in downtown Tampa.) I caught on quickly – dig the paddle in straight, with short strokes, and follow the person in front of you. I am a kayaker and the paddle felt good in my hands. Team coach Tessie Young was in back, urging us on to increase the strokes, then take a breather, drink water. No chatting, pay attention.

In the seat behind me, veteran paddler and assistant coach Kathy Cabble whispered instructions and encouragement. “Move your hand closer to the water” “That’s it, just follow the paddle in front, you’re doing great” “Use your abs, not your arms.” It was like riding a bike. In minutes I was in the groove, but it was hard to keep focused on the paddle in front of me when the glorious Tampa Riverwalk was teasing me, magnificent cumulus clouds hovering on the downtown skyline as it slowly turned to dusk.

We slid past Armature Works, the gleaming new Tampa Boathouse, the towering Straz Center, the minarets of the University of Tampa. Stollers on the Riverwalk and passing boaters waved and cheered as we paddled. Under the Platt Street bridge we stroked, then the wall with the names. I was humbled by the ladies in my boat, warriors all. After returning from practice, the team made quick work of hauling the boat back on shore to its base near the launch.

We gathered around Coach Young, who gave words of encouragement. She was off to the World Dragon Boat Racing Championships in Thailand in a few weeks. Then she pointed me out, the writer who was in the second row, paddling my heart out. I was impressive, she said (or at least I followed instructions). Then, I received the best compliment of all – Coach Young invited me to join the Dragon Boat Ladies. I never considered this assignment an audition, but I was honored. I made no commitment.

A month later I bought a new pair of paddling gloves. Yes, I decided, I wanted to be a Pink. New Zealand here I come!

Pink Dragon Ladies won gold for the breast cancer survivor (BCS) division in the 2019 Tampa Bay International Dragon Boat Festival in downtown Tampa.

Finding The Pinks

The Pink Dragon Ladies welcome women of all levels to join a practice session and learn more about the team. Sponsors and funding to help with travel expenses are appreciated. For more information, check out facebook.com/PinkDragonLadies, or go to the web site at www.pinkdragonladies.org. You can also email: pdlmembers@gmail.com.

48 StPeteLifeMag.com September/October 2019

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