Paddles up!

A long silhouette emerges from the mist. The call of the sweep cuts through the dawn silence, the low beat of the drum, and the plink-swoosh-pop of twenty paddles working as one - a rhythmic time stamp on the day.

In 1999, Anna Wellings-Booth OAM founded Dragons Abreast Canberra, Australia's second - and now longest-running - breast cancer survivor dragon boat team. GoAnna.

In 2024, the team is celebrating twenty-five years of paddling. Connecting. Moving. Living.

Many stories have been shared in that time. Stories of courage. Of resilience. Of pain and heartbreak. But inside each story, there is the joy that paddling brings and the sense of belonging.

Inside these pages, Kellie Nissen will introduce you to some of the women at the core of Dragons Abreast Canberra, giving you a glimpse into their experiences and a taste of a dragon boat training session.

Twenty-two women.

Twenty-two stories of breast cancer.

One dragon boat.

GoAnna welcomes you aboard.