If you are hanging out with a Knot A Breast Breast Cancer Survivor Dragon Boat Team member during the winter months, you might hear them say, “I’m in the tank Saturday morning.” What vision does this bring to your mind? Maybe one of these definitions?

Tank NOUN

  1. a large receptacle or storage chamber, especially for liquid or gas. 
  2. a heavy armored fighting vehicle carrying guns and moving on a continuous articulated metal track. 
  3. NORTH AMERICAN informal: a cell in a police station or jail.

Number 1 would be close to what they are describing, but it is not a gas tank like in your car. On Saturday mornings in the winter, KAB members head to the Welland International Flatwater Centre (WIFC) to work out with their fellow paddlers, SNCC Welland Warlocks in the ‘tank.’ The WIFC is a state-of-the-art indoor facility for rowing, canoe, kayak and dragon boat training. The facility was built for the Pan Am Games and is the only one of its kind in North America.

In the summer season we train on open water and work hard to make the boat move through the water. In the tank, the boats are fixed in place and the water moves. Think of a treadmill, but with water as the moving surface instead of rubber. Different configurations of “seats” can be lowered into the tank that simulate rowing shells, canoes, kayaks and dragon boats. It differs from a swimming pool in that the water is less than a meter deep, and large pumps hidden at the end of the tank push the water from one end to the other creating a current. Coaches can move around the tank and even step into the boats to assist with technique, make corrections, and generally do what they do, coach. Mirrors are mounted along the sides of the tank so the athletes can view their reflections to review their form and work on perfecting their technique.

Knot A Breast Dragon Boat Team are very fortunate to be able to train at WIFC. Next time you hear a KAB member say, ‘I’m in the tank’, know that they are in winter training to perfect their technique and are dreaming of the upcoming competitive season.