Pink Phoenix Breast Cancer Survivor Dragon Boating Team

Pink Phoenix Breast Cancer Survivor Dragon Boating Team Pink Phoenix™ is the United States' first dragon boat team comprised 100% of breast cancer survivors!

The Pinks, as we are known in the paddling community because of our distinctive pink PFDs, compete in three Portland races annually. Fans can cheer us on at the Portland Rose Festival Dragon Boat Race in June, The Row for the Cure in July, and the Portland Dragon Boat Race in September. The team often sends a crew to dragon boat festivals in California, Washington and British Columbia and has comp

eted successfully in Australia, New Zealand and Italy. Pink Phoenix is a member of Dragon Sports USA, Pacific Dragon Boat Association and the International Breast Cancer Paddlers' Commission. Follow our adventures on Twitter and Instagram too!

This fine July morning, the Race Director/Vice President canceled practice after substantial dialog with our Tiller Coor...
07/23/2026

This fine July morning, the Race Director/Vice President canceled practice after substantial dialog with our Tiller Coordinator and head Coach. It wasn't just the heat advisory to consider but also the increasingly poor Air Quality Index and a forecast of lightning. That's a triple negative!

They used what we informally call the "Go/No Go" guide. This handy document was created by our logical scientist / spreadsheet queen / former president who listed the environmental factors the team might face with logical benchmarks for keeping paddlers safe. Yeah, sometimes we have to think about toxic algae or sewage in the river. 🙄 See tonight's lightning map below for evidence that they made the right call.

If this inspires another (BCP) team to create a Go/No Go guide for their area, that's a win! Happy to share with our friendly rivals on the Willamette too. Stay safe out there, people!

Have we mentioned that more than 40 Pinks are going to France in August? It's for a gastronomical event where we shall t...
07/20/2026

Have we mentioned that more than 40 Pinks are going to France in August? It's for a gastronomical event where we shall try to eat the world's largest apple pear crumble . . . and some good racing with other (BCP) teams.

07/16/2026

Have we mentioned that two Pink Phoenix crews are headed to France next month? We stuffed paddles into our new golf/paddle carrier after practice tonight. It's going to be tight, but we think we can get 24 in there. Going to need another one of these funny looking tall suitcases! 🙂

Tell us sisters, how is your team getting your gear to in to race on ?

07/14/2026

Surfing through big wakes interrupts practice and keeps our tillers vigilant, but we share the River with all kinds of watercraft. Summertime can be wild but that helps us be ready for all kinds of race day conditions.

With Storm surging on them from Lane 3, the Pinks had to hinge hard, rotate more and press down to put more weight on th...
07/11/2026

With Storm surging on them from Lane 3, the Pinks had to hinge hard, rotate more and press down to put more weight on their blades to get the surge needed to reach the finish line first, by just a dragon's eyelash. Don't you love a race where you don't know the results until you get off the water? Great racing, y'all!

07/11/2026

We found tough competition at the Olympia Dragon Boat Festival, but our crew listened to Coach Tracy and improved their starts, then focused on staying strong at mid-race. Co-captain Megan inspired the crew to get loud and stay in "beast mode" for our F Division Final. Lessons learned, it all came together for the determined crew, who paddled fiercely to their first place finish.




06/28/2026

Spreading that pink sunshine and feeling the love at the 27th annual World Beat Festival Dragon Boat Races!

We'll have memories of blue skies, drizzle, downpours ... and was that hail? We found fine competition for our Strong & Bold crews who both came home with medals.

to the valiant volunteers who create community year after year at this festival in Salem.🩷

In the Survivor Race, Coach says we just put in the fastest time for a women's team so far today: sub 2 minutes! 1:55:84...
06/27/2026

In the Survivor Race, Coach says we just put in the fastest time for a women's team so far today: sub 2 minutes! 1:55:84.

More Pinks jumped in to help crews who were short, so there were about 80 cancer survivors on the water for the exhibition race in Salem. to community!

06/24/2026

Our steer's "Right Side (only) Hold" command is almost lost in the wind, but she uses the portside paddlers to turn into the marina. Wave boats, jet skiers, and wind meant big swells during practice. Yeehaw, it was "Welcome to the Pink Phoenix Rodeo" night, but most of us made it back mostly dry.

to on the .
Doing our part to and .

06/21/2026

Sometimes practice is an opportunity to deconstruct our stroke. Today's focus was on "the pounce" and punching through "the button."

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Portland, OR

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