Three Jacksonville-area breast cancer survivors collectively won 13 medals in this year’s international dragon boat racing championship in Germany.
They and the other seven members of the Jacksonville Dragon Boat Club group who participated brought home a total of 48 medals.
“The 10 of us gave our all,” member Pamela Reckner said.
In various races in the 17th IDBF World Dragon Boat Racing Championships’ inaugural breast cancer paddlers division, Reckner of Jacksonville and Sheila Hickson-Curran of Ponte Vedra Beach each received two silver medals and three bronze, while Sohka Au-Ferris of Saint Johns received two silver medals and one bronze, according to Reckner.
The experience was “amazing from start to finish,” Hickson-Curran said. “I loved every minute of it, even the early wake-ups, cold rain and sore muscles. Such an honor to represent the USA at the world level and to medal in every event.”
Dragon boats are long, narrow canoes decorated with a dragon’s head and tail, carrying about 20 paddlers, a drummer to maintain cadence and a steerer. Their origins are in ancient China, but the modern-day sport began in Hong Kong in the 1970s, according to the federation.
The Jacksonville club was founded in 2012 by Marty and Jeri Millard.
The championships, which featured competitors from 33 countries, included a variety of teams of different age groups racing a variety of distances. Some teams were for men, others for women, others were mixed. Also, there were multiple races for the same distances but in different dragon boats, some the standard size, others a smaller version.
A dozen Jacksonville club members qualified, but two were unable to make the trip, Reckner said.
Other club members who received medals in various team races were:
Jennifer Dew, Ponte Vedra Beach — three silver
Alisha LeVasseur, Jacksonville — four silver, five bronze
Gil Manalo, Fleming Island — three bronze
Marty Millard, Jacksonville — two silver, three bronze
Drew Rodgers, Neptune Beach — two silver, three bronze
Mimi Warren, Mandarin — four silver and four bronze
Erik Whitcombe, Mandarin — one gold, two silver
For more information about the Jacksonville club, go to jacksonvilledragonboatclub.com. For more information about the sport or championships, go to the IDBF website at dragonboat.sport or the U.S. Dragon Boat Federation website at usdbf.org/https://www.usdbf.org.
bcravey@jacksonville.com. (904) 359-4109
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: 3 Jacksonville-area breast cancer survivors win 13 dragon boat racing medals in Germany
Reporting by Beth Reese Cravey, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
