Rusty Dragons BPS Dragon Boat

01/18/2018

The Rusty Dragons will be running some introductory dragon boat sessions once-a-month in Toronto in the summer of 2018 that is targetted to people who are blind or partially sighted. Contact [email protected] if you are interested in more information.

02/18/2016

Forwarding a message for blind or sighted people who would like to volunteer for an interview for a special project integrating Braille with fashion apparel! If interested, please contact Alexa ASAP at the e-mail address below. Here is her message...

My name is Alexa Jovanovic and I am a fourth year Fashion Communication student at Ryerson University, as well as the Graphic Designer for Ryerson's School of Fashion.

For my final capstone project I am researching the integration of Braille and fashion apparel. Currently, I am in search for blind and sighted individuals to participate in a series of interviews. Prior exposure to Braille is not required, but ability to read Braille is highly valued. Although the study will focus on womenswear, both men and women are encouraged to participate. The results from this study will be applied towards the creation of fashion garments that communicate clothing characteristics in Braille through beadwork and Braille buttons. This end product will be designed for both blind and sighted consumers to use. For further information or to express interest in participating please contact Alexa Jovanovic at [email protected].

Thank you in advance.

Respectfully,
Alexa Jovanovic

01/22/2016

The program for the team is being developed and should be completed by the end of January. It will include once a week practices from early May until mid September, with all long weekends off. The practices will likely be Sundays, 10-12. The team will race at minimum at the DDRA Canada Day Regatta on Toronto's Centre Island as well as the GWN Dragon Boat Challenge at Toronto's Marilyn Bell Park. The team is looking for blind, partially sighted, and fully sighted team members and no experience is required. Stay tuned for more information soon!

12/09/2015

Our episode finally aired on AMI TV last week, and is now online this week. We had a lot of fun with host Mark DeMontis in last Fall (after the season was done, hence the few paddlers on the boat). go to www.AMI.ca, click on Sports Access, and check out Season 5 Episode 4. Kayaking at Islands are also featured, as well as rowing at the Argonaut Rowing Club.

09/28/2015

We had fun on the water today with Accessible Media Inc (AMI) TV host Mark DeMontis and his film crew for their series called "Sports Access". The episode will likely air in November or December. Here is the link to their program (not to our episode). Mark is a great host and he interviewed coach Tim MacFarlane and paddler Steve Murgaski. Mark and Steve were the pacers for today's practice. Kudos to the cameraman for braving the drummer's seat for the taping. It wasn't really our full Blind Partially sighted crew as that program is done, but we had 11 paddlers on the boat plus Tim and the cameraman. http://www.ami.ca/AMI-tv/Pages/Sports-Access.aspx

While documenting the 2014 Beep Baseball World Series, Rob Simpson and Mark DeMontis vowed to assemble the first ever Team Canada in the sport. They did just that. Follow an emotional and eventful training camp as Team Canada heads to Rochester, New York to compete in the 2015 Beep Baseball World Se…

09/19/2015

Congratulations to the "Sight Unseen" team for their come-from-behind win in the divisional final to win gold medals and a trophy at the GWN Dragon Boat Challenge this past weekend. They avoided a collision from another team veering into their lane, and shot ahead for the win with their best time of the weekend by almost 5 seconds. Pictures coming soon!

08/25/2015

We have about 70 athletes preparing to race in just over two weeks at the big GWN Dragon Boat Challenge on Sept 12-13 in Toronto at Marilyn Bell Park. Of those athletes on 5 teams, 11 are blind or partially sighted and 20 are breast cancer survivors. The teams are Balmy Beach BPS Dragons, Motley Crew, Girls Girls Girls!, Pink Crusaders, and OPS Heart. Bring on the competition!!

08/18/2015

More pictures to come thanks to many team mates and supporters at the Pan Am Club Crew Championships.

08/18/2015

What a weekend in Welland this past weekend at the Pan Am Club Crew (dragonboat) Championships. The Rusty Dragons brought 27 athletes together to compete in two small-boat teams in the blind / partially sighted open division. Our team names were "Sight Unseen" and "Are We There Yet?". There were MANY memories made there and lessons learned on and off the water. I am very proud of each person who helped make this trip a reality.

Of the many memories, one of note was our team turning the 3rd and final turn in the 2000m race at the far end of the race course and passing the Australian national paddlers on the shore. Seemingly over 200 strong and in their race jerseys as they prepared to practice for the upcoming World Championships, they cheered wildly and loudly for us as we straightened after the turn and headed for the finish line. Every person on our boat heard that as we finished that turn, held our heads high with renewed energy, and held it together for the final 500m.

More to come soon...

Wear your Pan Am CCC gold and silver medals proudly team mates! Bring on the 3rd Pan Am CCC in March 2017 in Puerto Rico. We WILL be there.

http://www.wellandtribune.ca/2015/08/14/blind-paddlers-show-the-world-what-theyre-made-of

You could feel the excitement in the air as the Rusty Dragons crossed the finish line Friday.