Summer 2008

A great season for ABOL, culminating in a bronze medal in the Breast Cancer Division at the NZ Nationals at Lake Pupuke, North Shore, Auckland, on March 29. And because the race winners (Dragons Abreast Gold Coast) were not a full breast cancer team, with supporters topping up their boat, Abreast of Life finished second overall to our long time rivals, Busting with Life. We had to hand the trophy over to Busting, but we'll be back next year to bring it back home! Our thanks to Busting With Life for organising the great social get together and dinner for all BC teams on Saturday night.

A wonderful weekend to finish a long season that started back in August for several team members with training for the regatta at Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. Nine members of the team paddled with Wellington team Can Survive, against 70+ teams from around the world, and achieved a place in the grand final and 6th overall in the regatta. A wonderful result almost matched by the two team members who paddled with a composite Amazon Heart crew from USA, Australia and NZ. They finished a very credible 8th overall. An amazing result for the New Zealand paddlers as other teams were either just finishing their season so were match fit, or came from climates where on the water training can happen all year round.

ABOL also competed in the Christchurch Early Bird festival on 9 February (the first experience of racing for several of the team), the Christchurch Regatta on 1 March and the Wellington Dragon Boat Festival on 15 March (where we paddled well and also won the best uniform section with our smart new Versatile paddling gear). We were delighted to welcome the second South Island breast cancer team, Simply the Breast, from Blenheim, to the ChCh Regatta, held this year on the Avon River by Kerrs Reach.

We owe a huge vote of thanks to our new sponsor for this season, Versatile Buildings. Thank you so much! We told you you would have our undying love and gratitude, and you most surely do!

Summer 2007

Just two festivals for us this year, The South Island Champs on March 4, and then the New Zealand Nationals on March 24-25, both held in Christchurch on Lake Roto Kahutu.

With several new women in the boat, and a disrupted training season, which meant several practices were abandoned or we had less than a full boat, our expectations were not great for the racing programme this season.

But after what could best be described as disappointing finishes and race times for our first three races, paddlers dug really deep for our semi-final and final, and pulled off an unexpected but exhilarating win in our last two races, taking gold in the first ever Breast Cancer Division Championship in the New Zealand Dragon Boat National Championship Festival.

Summer 2006

After all the hard work of the past long season in 2005, and having several new paddlers in the boat, we decided to have a "fun" season this summer. Only one local festival was held - the Christchurch Festival - held at Lake Rotokuhata on March 5. This was the first racing experience for some of our women, and we performed well, improving our times through the day. We also participated in a "Fun Day" on Lyttelton Harbour, with about 8 other teams, racing a short course off Magazine Bay.

On March 11 we paddled in the New Zealand Nationals at Wellington, and enjoyed the competition with other cancer teams from Auckland, Hamilton and Wellington. We were pleased with our performance to win bronze in the Open Social Final.

Winter 2005

In our winter, but northern hemisphere's summer, we competed in the 10th Anniversary Abreast in a Boat Regatta on False Creek, Vancouver, Canada. We won silver for our 2nd place in the C Division Championship, won by Survivorship who also went on to win the ScotiaBank Cup in the grand final. Our championship time was 2 min 40.820, better than any of the times posted in the grand final, so we can be well pleased with our results.

Summer 2005

Our goal for 2005 was to compete in the Alcan Festival and the 10th Anniversary Breast Cancer Regatta in Vancouver over two weekends in June. As we needed all our funds and more to pay for our Canada trip, and as we didn't start our boat training until February, we reluctantly decided to forgo defending our national title, so we didn't compete in any local or national regattas this summer.

Summer 2004

Competed in:
Club Event, Nelson, January 2004
Early Bird Competition, Christchurch, February 2004
South Island Championships, Christchurch, February 2004

New Zealand Nationals, Christchurch, March 2004:

We again won Gold in the Cancer Survivors Division Grand Final

Summer 2003

New Zealand Nationals, Wellington, March 2003:

Won Gold in the Cancer Survivors Division Grand Final at New Zealand Nationals,
held in association with the Wellington Dragon Boat Festival.
Paddled against 9 other teams from Auckland, Wellington, Australia, Canada and United States.

Final times and placings:
1. Abreast of Life 1.48.66
2. Pink Phoenix (USA) 1.50.26
3. Busting with Life (Auck) 1.50.58
4. Survivorship (Canada) 1.51.14
5. Chemo Savvy (Canada) 1.57.92
6. Dragons Abreast (Aust) 2.01.74

Inaugural South Pacific Breast Cancer Regatta, Auckland, March 2004.

Won Silver, competing against Auckland and 10 other teams from Australia, Canada and USA. Also brought home the trophy for competition between Busting with Life and Abreast of Life.

Final times and placings:
1. Pink Phoenix (USA) 1.30.11
2. Abreast of Life 1.30.25
3. Busting with Life (Auck) 1.31.17
4. Dragons Abreast (Aust) 1.33.09
5. Survivorship (Canada) 1.33.60

Competed in local festivals in Christchurch during the season. At the Early Bird festival Abreast of Life had the distinction of being the most improved team throughout the day of competition.

New coaches, Audrey Campbell, Mike Louch, and Mark Flint joined the team at the beginning of the 2002-2003 season.