Nelson’s first dragon boat team is celebrating its 20th year and returning home to the Nelson pier.
The Kootenay Rhythm Dragons believes in health, community, empowerment, paddling hard and having fun, especially when abord their 48-foot dragon boat named Puff.
“The greatest achievement is the sense of community that the team creates, we have members from all walks of life in all ages.” said Emily Ferguson, Director, Kootenay Rhythm Dragons.
“It’s really quite phenomenal the way they really accept everybody at their own ability, and they support each other to do our very best, and within that, they still manage to have an absolutely fierce competitive spirit.”
Kootenay Rhythm Dragons is a not-for-profit organisation, made up of a diverse group of people, including breast cancer survivors, their friends, family, and supporters, who want to share in the activity of paddling and the team message.
“We are enjoying conducting all of our warm-ups on the pier and we do our dances before we go out for practice, and practices happen between May and September.” said Cheryl Drew, Kootenay Rhythm Dragons
“We have over 80 members this year, and our recreation team has a paddler who is having her 96th birthday this year.”
Puff is now tied to the club’s new dock, funded by a generous donation from Jennifer Lount-Taylor and constructed by Nelco Marine.
“Jennifer Lount-Taylor has adopted the Kootenay Rhythm Dragons under her wing. We call her our Earth Angel. This would not have happened without Jennifer’s support and generosity.”
As the season come to an end, Puff we be taken out of the water soon to return in 2025, so make sure you catch her for her final weeks on Kootenay Lake for the year.
However, the club is encouraging all women interest joining the team for a paddle to visit their website.
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