After conquering cancer as a teenager, Sherouk Mohamed Morsi takes on a different beast, testing her abilities in the demanding sport of dragon boat racing.
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00:00Dragon boat is the ultimate team sport.
00:04It takes 20 paddlers and one steer and one drummer to work together in the same exact
00:09synchronization.
00:10It's physically and mentally challenging.
00:13It needs the cooperation of your entire body.
00:15You cannot stop until the finish line.
00:18You have to start strong and you have to finish stronger.
00:21Strength and endurance all the way.
00:22The sport itself is very intense, however, it brings me peace and happiness when I am
00:28in the boat.
00:29My name is Shorouk Mohamed Morsi and I am a Dragon Boat Paddler.
00:42We are Onslaught!
00:43We are Onslaught!
00:44We are Onslaught!
00:48My team's name is Onslaught Racing, Dragons Qatar.
00:52The name itself shows how competitive the team is.
00:56We have two days a week for training, Fridays and Saturdays.
01:01Sometimes we reach daily training in order just to maintain the performance.
01:07It's always about long distance paddling and adjusting your technique and your form.
01:14Technique trainings are mainly dissecting the move or the stroke.
01:18This stroke actually consists of three to four parts.
01:23You have the entry.
01:24Your hands have to be outside the boat.
01:27The second part is the drive, which is the actual pull of the water.
01:32It's not only your arm muscle.
01:34You need to push with your legs, contract your cores and use your back muscles to actually
01:38pull.
01:41Then we have the exit to emphasize the rotation of the body and the body movement.
01:47Then the recovery.
01:48The recovery is like slicing the paddle in a certain way so you can achieve a more aerodynamic
01:54movement.
01:55So you repeat every part of them for 20 to 30 times to get the entire synergy and synchronization.
02:05When the race starts getting closer, you start focusing on the strength program or power.
02:11I keep challenging myself.
02:12I keep testing my abilities and my body.
02:15I am very thankful and grateful for the ability to perform this sport and excel at it.
02:23I was 17 years old when I got diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
02:28I have gone into surgical treatment.
02:30The following up treatments took two to three years to complete.
02:35It was definitely a challenging time.
02:37My emotions were low.
02:38My energy was low.
02:39I lost hope in everything, whether physically or mentally.
02:44You start to question or doubt your abilities.
02:47My family was very supportive and was there for me in every point.
02:51Still, I didn't want them to go through a huge burden of my fluctuations of emotions.
02:59I was always looking for an escape or an outlet.
03:02By total coincidence, I found my passion.
03:08Joining Doha Wireless Warriors had a great impact on me because I felt that I belonged
03:13somewhere.
03:14I belonged to a certain group.
03:17The members are cancer survivors and supporters.
03:21Our objective is to get strong, to build cancer awareness that there is life after cancer.
03:27We choose the hot pink color because we are warriors.
03:30It says we're alive and we're here.
03:32We do race occasionally here at the beach.
03:34It doesn't matter if we win.
03:36We win because we're paddling.
03:37Our priority is having a community for cancer survivors.
03:40We always stop in the middle and we have a couple of moments of gratefulness.
03:44It's kind of like meditation.
03:46It's to honor those who have passed.
03:48We're extra grateful to be alive and to be on the water.
03:52Everyone is in the same boat.
03:54We're just there for you.
03:57Either you talk or you don't talk, we understand what you're going through.
04:03After cancer, people think that we are back to normal.
04:07I was struggling with forgetting, very difficult to focus.
04:13When I joined the team, I learned that there's something called chemo brain.
04:17I start to understand this is just a phase.
04:21I will pass it.
04:22Today, I feel super energetic.
04:25I feel super happy.
04:27I feel like I recharge again to go through another week.
04:34Atomic motion or repetitive motion can have the same impact on the body as meditation.
04:42You are repeating the same stroke over and over and over and over.
04:46This actually helps your body to relax.
04:50Doha Wireless Warriors was the first push for me.
04:53Their accommodation and embrace was significant in building my character.
05:00When I was able to heal.
05:03I joined a more competitive team.
05:06We have won so many medals, locally and internationally.
05:10Right now, I am a certified international race official.
05:14This sport has no limits.
05:16Recently, we have started an initiative together with my teammates, Dragon Boat Regatta Qatar
05:22works to unite local and global individuals or communities on Qatar grounds, organizing
05:29races to enhance Qatar portfolio for the sport and to be able to host international
05:36races here as well and eventually Asian Games or World Championship.
05:42I'm working hard all the time to achieve the dreams.
05:46The hustle continues.
05:47I found out from Dragon Boat that you are powerful beyond measure.
05:52You are capable beyond measure.
05:54The sky is the limit.
05:59www.DragonBoatWarriors.com