Portland’s first dragon boat team for men and women with a cancer diagnosis is recruiting new and experienced paddlers.
Rose City Rockets are fostering amateur cancer survivor paddlers to compete in national and international competition demonstrating that there is a quality of life after surviving cancer.
Rose City Rockets Fundraising for World Crew Club Championships
Rose City Rockets will be representing the United States in the 15th IDBF World Club Crew Championships to be held August 29 to September 6, 2026 in Hualien, Chinese Taipei.
Every day, individuals in our community bravely face the challenges of cancer and its aftermath. Our Rose City Rockets team offers a vital lifeline to recovery for many in Portland, Oregon. We provide hope, support, and connection to cancer survivors, helping them move from surviving to thriving.
We are a community built on the belief that we can rebuild strength together, find joy beyond survival, and show that people living with cancer are more than their diagnosis. The Rose City Rockets is a supportive group whose mission is to share this experience with all cancer survivors.
We are raising funds to fulfill our mission and to support our team’s trip to the World Club Crew Championships in Taiwan at the end August.
This week you will find information about our current Popcorn Fundraiser from DoubleGood on many of our Rose City Rockets’ individual facebook pages. In addition, we are including our Venmo donation button so that donations can be made directly to Rose City Rockets.
Thank you for your support!
What is a dragon boat?
We are recruiting men and women
All Cancer Paddlers (ACP)
ACP is an inclusive sport welcoming all adult ages, all genders, for those who have been diagnosed with any cancer.
We welcome new paddlers who just want to try us out – and we have veteran paddlers with more than ten years of experience.
Downtown Portland
Dragon boats are moored at the River Place Marina public dock at 1510 S Harbor Way, Portland, OR 97201 in downtown Portland on the west bank of the Williamette River in front of the River Place Hotel in Tom McCall park.
Meet at the flag pole.
Practice Schedule
We practice Tuesday and Thursday from 5:30 to 7:15 and Saturday morning for 9:30 to 11:15 AM.
Please let us know in advance if you want to try us out at paddle@rcpdx.org so we can arrange paddles and life vests for you.
Dragon boating encourages healthy living, physical activity, camaraderie, and friendly competition as a cohesive team, working toward a shared goal.
For cancer survivors it is about more than competition. It is about conquering the beast, supporting each other, and taking pride in both personal and team accomplishments.
Studies of people with breast, colorectal, and prostate cancers suggest that physically active cancer survivors have a lower risk of cancer recurrence and improved survival compared with those who are inactive.
The first dragon boat teams for cancer survivors started 25 years ago for women with breast cancer. Now men and women with any cancer diagnosis can paddle on an all cancer paddling team in Portland.
The Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health Sciences University is a sustaining sponsor and helped launch Rose City Rockets Paddling Club this year.