STORY BY MEGAN DEMAREST PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF DRAGONHEART VERMONT
Dragon boat racers participating in last year’ s Flower Ceremony
Paddling to the Beat of Their Own Drum
Dragonheart Vermont combines the ancient sport of dragon boat racing with breast cancer support, establishing a mission that is equal parts athletic, healing, and inspirational.
Dragonheart Vermont’ s origin story began with a group of breast cancer survivors who borrowed a dragon boat to paddle on Lake Champlain in the summer of 2004. Linda and John Dyer were part of that group, and their vision for what the sport could do for people after cancer was the driving force behind the founding of Dragonheart. By the end of that summer,“ the borrowed boat went back. Dragonheart Vermont did not.” Over 20 years later, the organization is here to stay.
Listening to individual Dragonheart Vermont members talk about their own experience is like listening to one, collective voice. They all emphasize the intensity of the teamwork required to paddle successfully, each person on the boat attempting to be in perfect sync with one another, guided by their steersperson’ s commands and the beat of the drummer. They all talk about the bonding that naturally occurs between people affected by cancer who are working together toward a shared goal. And they will all tell you that there is no other team sport like it in the world.
74 VERMONT MAGAZINE