Au Revoir, Aix-Les-Bains

DUC PINK in France: An Experience We Won’t Soon Forget

It’s hard to put into words what we experienced in France.

We went to Aix-les-Bains to race dragon boats, of course, but the IBCPC Dragon Boat Festival turned out to be so much more than two days of racing. Nearly 4,500 breast cancer paddlers from around the world came together on the shores of Lac du Bourget for a week that was equal parts competition, celebration, remembrance, and a whole lot of fun.

For DUC PINK, just getting there was something to celebrate. Months of practices on White Rock Lake, race starts, drills and longer paddles had all been leading to this. Our first chance to get on the water in France came during practice day, when we were finally able to paddle the course and get a feel for Lac du Bourget. With the French Alps surrounding us and boats filled with teams from all over the world coming and going around us, it was a pretty spectacular place to take those first strokes.

Next came the Parade of Nations and Opening Ceremonies, and that was when the sheer size of the festival really began to sink in. Most teams dressed in costumes representing their home countries or regions, turning the parade into a colorful celebration of all the places represented at the festival. DUC PINK, naturally, brought a little Texas to France.

Local residents and supporters lined the streets along the parade route, cheering as the teams passed. We heard more than a few shouts of “Howdy!” when people spotted our Texas shirts, which made us giggle a bit, but we definitely felt the love!

Everywhere we looked there were teams carrying flags, taking pictures, laughing and meeting paddlers from other countries. There was an instant connection that didn’t require much explanation. We may have come from different places and spoken different languages, but everyone there understood what it meant to be part of this particular community.

The following day was supposed to be our first race day. Mother Nature had other plans.

Severe storms moved through the area and did significant damage to the beautiful festival grounds, forcing organizers to postpone racing. Staff and volunteers immediately went to work, putting in countless hours to restore the venue and get the festival back on track.

With an unexpected free day on our hands, many of our PINKs made the best of the change in plans and headed to Lyon for the day. It certainly wasn’t on the original race schedule, but an impromptu day exploring one of France’s most beautiful cities wasn’t a bad Plan B.

Thanks to the tremendous efforts of the festival staff and volunteers, we were soon able to turn our attention back to what had brought us to Lac du Bourget in the first place. It was finally time to race.

DUC PINK competed in both the 200-meter and 1,000-meter events. In the 200-meter competition, we finished 88th out of 156 teams overall. The 1,000-meter race gave us one of our favorite moments of the week when we won our heat and ultimately finished 35th out of 156 teams.

We were proud of those results, but anyone who has spent time in a dragon boat knows that the finish is only part of the story. There is something incredibly satisfying about sitting at a starting line with your teammates, knowing how many hours together went into getting that boat there, and then hearing the call to go. Months of work suddenly come down to everyone doing the same thing at exactly the same time.

Among all the excitement of racing, the festival also made room for something much quieter.

The Flower Ceremony has long been an important tradition in breast cancer dragon boating. During the ceremony, paddlers gather on the water to remember those who have died from breast cancer and to honor those who continue to live with the disease. In France, metastatic breast cancer paddlers were included in the boats for the ceremony, making an already meaningful tradition even more personal.

With thousands of paddlers together on Lac du Bourget, flowers were raised and then released onto the water. After days filled with cheering, music, racing and celebration, the quiet of that moment was striking.

It was also a reminder of why a festival like this can be both incredibly joyful and deeply emotional. Every woman there had a breast cancer story. Some were many years beyond treatment. Some were living with metastatic disease. Others were paddling while carrying the memory of teammates and friends who should have been there with them.

By the time the festival came to a close, we had raced hard, laughed a lot, met women from around the world and made memories that will be talked about at DUC PINK practices for years to come.

We also came home with a little different perspective on the team we have here in Dallas.

Week after week, we meet at White Rock Lake, climb into a dragon boat and paddle together. It can become such a normal part of our lives that it is easy to forget how unusual this community really is. France gave us the opportunity to see it on a much larger scale.

There are breast cancer survivor dragon boat teams all over the world doing exactly what we are doing—showing up, getting stronger, supporting one another and discovering that life after breast cancer can include things we never expected.

For one unforgettable week in France, we all got to do it together.

And we are very proud that DUC PINK was there.