You’d be forgiven if you questioned your sanity. Out of the mist atop the glass-like water of a cool, blue lake comes the head of a dragon. In its belly more than a dozen silver-haired women are paddling in unison. They are the engine of the great beast churning the water and hurtling the creature past you. Pinch yourself. Give your head a shake. It’s no dream.
It’s a dragon boat team from the Fort Langley Canoe Club. They are women. They are mostly in their seventies. And they go by the name D-Fyance.
Thirteen years ago, out-of-shape, last-kid-picked-for-the-ball-team Ruth Bedell got a call from a group of ladies, breast cancer survivors, seeing if she’d like to join their crew of paddlers. With a great amount of encouragement, she went, reluctantly.
“[Paddling] has saved my life! My family all live away from me and I suffer from depression, so this has become my other family,” says Ruth. “The friendships I have made are very special to me and we all support and help each other.”
Team D-Fyance began when an ad was placed in the Langley Times in March 2017 looking for women over 70 interested in paddling. Ruth received 60 calls and ended up with 40 women who make up two teams, one which paddles twice a week and one that goes out once a week.
Crew member Heather Grausdies echoes Ruth’s life-saving and changing sentiments.
“I am now retired, and it had been two years since my husband passed away when I saw the advertisement in the Langley Times last year, asking for paddlers over 70,” says Heather. “What great timing! I knew the time had come for me to try this new venture. I have been delighted with my decision to join the team.”
It’s the camaraderie that binds these women who not only have age in common, but some of the aches and pains that come with it. A genuine sense of sisterhood has developed amongst the paddlers.
“I’m amazed learning of the bad hips, knees that don’t work, a heart monitor going off during practice (no problem!), breathing problems and even one of our group being in her early eighties. There is admiration for all the wonderful ladies who don’t let anything stop them,” says Heather.
But these ladies aren’t in this only for the all the warm fuzzies their bond gives them. They have become honest to goodness athletes and competitors. The D-Fyance team went to four regattas this year – often competing against much younger crews – and garnered a bronze medal. They are now hoping to represent Fort Langley at the Club Crew Pan American games in Trinidad in March 2019.
Thelma Bell is the elder stateswoman of the team. In her early eighties, Thelma had been living one day at a time with CML (Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia). The side effects of the trial drug that had kept her alive for 15 years included fluid-filled lungs and a failing heart. Believing her life was going downhill with each month that passed, she stopped taking the drug.
“I started to feel almost normal quickly and had more energy. When I read about the team Ruth was recruiting, I called her and asked if I could join,” says Thelma. “I feared I was too old at eighty-one and having bad knees. She encouraged me to come out and there was always someone to help me into the boat and out. As soon as I was on the water, I knew this was something I could do. Having friends to look forward to seeing and chatting with every week got me out of my apartment and back into a social life.”
“These women love what they have done for themselves and have grown physically and emotionally,” says Ruth. “They say they have made 20-plus new friends.”
Few of the women consider themselves sporty in the conventional sense.
Heather admits, “I have always tried to stay active but never thought of myself as competitive, even though I have done a few competitive activities in the past. I always got too nervous at these events to want to pursue them further. However, I was walking on air after our team won a bronze medal within our first year of competitive paddling. I think I want more of that!”
Hilda Buvyer, 70, agrees. Considered by some as the “princess type” from her high school days, she says those same people are shocked when they discover her new endeavour.
“I didn’t know that I would ever feel such passion for a hobby again in my life, so this is wonderful! I’ve recently (in the past 10 years) had a lot of bone surgeries related to a motorcycle accident that happened many years ago, so my power walking days are over, but I’ve found a new exercise that I can actually do,” says Hilda.
After the Pan American Games in Trinidad and Tobago, Ruth plans to keep in touch with Dragon Boat Canada to establish a Senior D 70+ division at the world championship level. For the time being, there are only divisions for A 40+, B 50+, and C 60+. The sport is growing; dragons are known to be prolific breeders. Ruth encourages any woman of any age and ability to dip a paddle in the water.
“In the meantime, this team will keep working on our paddling and enter as many races/regattas as we can,” she says. “We will show the world that no matter your age, if you can get into a boat, you can do it!”
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