Pink Phoenix Breast Cancer Survivor Dragon Boating Team

03/31/2026

After Saturday's practice, paddlers gathered in the team parking lot for a quick gear swap and lined up to receive the big Sawyer paddles we need for the Kaohsiung style boats we race at Rose Festival.

Yes, team parking lot! We know we are lucky to have this donation from ! Their generosity keeps racing within reach for of any income situation and keeps us safely parking together.

03/30/2026

It's an honor to participate in the Eye Dotting Ceremony that awaken 's eight Kaohsiung dragon boats.

Paddlers hold the sleeping beauties at the dock while monks bless them and dignitaries add a dot of paint to the eyeballs, symbolically transforming each boat into a living creature. Royal Rosarians, locally elected officials, and Rose Festival staff come aboard for a few spins around the Hawthorne Bowl, celebrating with the Fire Dept's Boat and then it's back to the dock, cherishing memories.

to the
Portland Rose Festival Dragon Boat Race in June!

03/19/2026

Other than one canceled practice due to an atmospheric river (safety first!) the beginning of our 2026 season has been smooth sailing!

Or smooth paddling, if you prefer. 😊

02/25/2026

Pink Phoenix was delighted to host prospective and long-time paddlers (and everyone in between) last Saturday! Kicking off a new season is always exciting, but kicking off our 🌟30th season🌟 is extra special for us.

Some goodies here: a beautiful quilt featuring official PP tees from our first 20 seasons, some of the delicious cupcakes made by a daughter of one of our pinks, and a peek at our new race jerseys!

You can catch us on the water next weekend for our first practice. Paddles up! 🐉

02/10/2026

Let’s give a warm welcome and paddle salute to the WNBA’s 15th franchise, the Portland Fire WNBA! We cannot wait to roar with the crowd when the heat up the court in their debut season. Our enthusiasm has been rising since the team’s reveal of their jerseys and symbols which pay homage to our iconic rivers, the mountain, and roses.

We have one burning question: did y’all happen to catch our team’s new look?

Pink Phoenix made a big splash, launching into our 30th Season with a new race uniform that features the Willamette River, the Tillikum Crossing, Mt. Hood and the downtown skyline. And, yes, those are roses along the cuff of the long-sleeved version. We’re only bringing this up because you’ll likely notice our crew stylin’ at the Moda Center this summer and might have questions. Sorry, but our jerseys are reserved for Breast Cancer Paddlers (BCPs). Let’s talk more when our “Celebrating 30 Years” shirt for fans and friends is revealed later this spring. They’re going to be hot!




AI Creation: Image generated with , just for fun.

02/05/2026

BCP teams and friends, you'll find a fantastic venue, friendly volunteers and fabulous competition at this race. See you in Portland?

Portland Rose Festival Dragon Boat Race
Presented by the Portland-Kaohsiung Sister City Association

⏰ Early bird ends 1/25!
Save $100 off registration fees when you register and pay by Jan 25 💥
Don’t miss your chance to race at the Portland Rose Festival Dragon Boat Races 🐉
👉 www.pksca.net

02/02/2026

What better time to join Pink Phoenix than during our 30th season on the water? 🤩 Our open house invite is here—share with a breast cancer survivor or thriver in your life!

See comments below for the FB event invite! 💌

01/18/2026

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY (excerpt from our founder's book):

On Saturday, January 18, 1997, 29 women—all breast cancer survivors and complete strangers— met at the Nautilus Plus in Lake Oswego. Two hours later we walked out as "Pink Phoenix" and were totally committed as a team. We had members volunteer to do everything from creating a web page to designing a team logo and tee-shirt. By late January, we were training on the water in Hong Kong style boats. We practiced every Sunday morning, rain or shine, until April with (founder) Dorothy A. and the Wasabi Dragonboat Paddling Club as our mentors and trainers.

The Awakening of the Dragon ceremony on Saturday, April 5 at Tom McCall Waterfront Park marked the day that our training season would begin in earnest. Until then the dragons had been "sleeping," their eyes painted over. At the ceremony Chinese Monks "awakened" them by painting in the eyes. As with all traditions, there is meaning behind the ritual. The ceremony is conducted to cleanse and bless the competition, the competitors, and their boats. The season had begun. Our goal now was to train three times a week to build up to the races at the Portland Rose Festival.

Our big day was Saturday, June 7th when we would participate in our first races. At 12:40 p.m., we were off to the starting line for our first real competition. It was truly a thrill to race after all the energy and intensity that we had poured into our training all spring. We finished last in that first heat but we were winners! The next two heats we finished second in each. Our glory came when we finished first in our final race on Sunday. We had truly come a long way since our first meeting in January. We were no longer a group of strangers, but a team that had bonded into a group of friends; a support group with our victory over breast cancer; and a team with an invincible spirit.

We had such a great time at Rose Festival we eagerly signed up for the DragonSports USA 1997 Invitational Dragon Boat Race on Sept. 6, 1997 at Vancouver Lake, Vancouver, WA. With no other womens teams competing, we had to recruit a minimum of 8 men to be able to compete as a coed team.

With the great interest of other survivors to join Pink Phoenix, we hope to put together a second team for the 1998 season.

01/18/2026

Our France-bound crews got in some practice today and reveled in the surprising weather! 48° and sunny in Portland in January? We'll take it. 😎