Olympians Schlenker and Borgman win at Portland’s Row for the Cure®

Over $10,000 raised by Portland rowers and paddlers to benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation

Editor's Note:  Contributions received following the conclusion of 2005 Portland Row for the Cure brought the event's gross total to $18,000.

PORTLAND, Ore, Sept. 18, 2005 – Portland area Olympians Lisa Schlenker and Stacey Borgman won the women’s double sculls at the 12th annual Row for the Cure® regatta benefiting the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Sunday morning on the Willamette River.

With many of the 45,000 runners and walkers from Portland’s Race for the Cure® looking on and Portland’s fire boat streaming pink water high into the air, 374 rowers and paddlers from Oregon, Washington and Colorado helped raise over $10,000  in the fight to eradicate breast cancer as a life threatening disease.

The four-city national regatta, conceived in 1994 by Portland rower Kathy Frederick, has now raised over $336,000 for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, including over $31,000 raised on Sunday at Seattle’s Row for the Cure®. 

In rowing and paddling competition on the Willamette, Schlenker and Borgman of the Lake Oswego Rowing Club, defeated a second Lake Oswego crew by 4.25 seconds to win the 5k women’s double sculls event in 19:31. 

“This is such an uplifting and fun regatta,” said Borgman, who along with Schlenker, represented the United States in the lightweight women’s double sculls at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. 

“Being a part of this group of dedicated rowers and paddlers is my way of celebrating those that have survived breast cancer and observing others that are no longer with us,” said Borgman who’s mother Diane Borgman just completed her 27th year of remission following a diagnosis of breast cancer at age 34. “I’m blessed to still have my mom here.”

At the conclusion of the Race for the Cure®, many of the runners and walkers congregated along the sea-wall in Tom McCall Waterfront Park to cheer on the rowers and paddlers competing below on the Willamette.  “To hear the cheers from all of the runners and walkers who came to the sea-wall to support us was really encouraging,” said Frederick who has taken Portland’s Row for the Cure® from a small parade of boats on the Willamette in 1994 to one of four regattas across the U.S. benefiting the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. 

“The water sports community in Portland and other cities has the energy and resources to help make an impact in the fight against breast cancer,” said Frederick.  “We’ve had inquires from other cities around the U.S. who want to form their own Row for the Cure®.  I hope we can follow in the footsteps of the runners and cyclists who have grown similar events in their own sports.”

Other Row for the Cure® winners include Corvallis Rowing Club in the men’s and women’s masters and mixed masters eights, Sammamish Rowing Association of Bellevue, Wash. in the mixed master’s eight, Lake Oswego Rowing Club in the women’s open and women’s novice eights, and Corvallis Rowing Club in the mixed open eight.

Wasabi SOAR of Portland won the dragon boat competition in a time of 12:31 finishing 22 seconds ahead of Portland’s Amazon Dragons.  Team Ricoh won the outrigger canoes event with a time of 15:11.

About Row for the Cure®
Row for the Cure® benefiting the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation is in its 12th year and annually attracts over 750 participants and 200 volunteers from the rowing, canoe/kayak and dragon boat communities in the United States.  Since Portland, Ore. hosted the first Row for the Cure® in 1994, the regatta has grown to a four-city event in Portland, Seattle, Philadelphia and Dayton, Ohio raising over $295,000 in the fight to eradicate breast cancer as a life threatening disease.  Portland Row for the Cure® is made possible through generous contributions from Ether Shoes, Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe, Arbonne International Swiss Skin Care Products, New Seasons Market, Sun Glass Hut, Masters Rowing Association, Portland Spirit Dinner Tours, Portland Fire Bureau, Multnomah County Sheriff River Patrol, United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, RegattaCentral, and Matt Trujillo Digital Photography and Design.

About the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation was established in 1982 by Nancy Brinker to honor the memory of her sister, Susan G. Komen, who died from breast cancer at the age of 36. Today, the Foundation is an international organization with a network of more than 75,000 volunteers working through local Affiliates and events like the Komen Race for the Cure® to eradicate breast cancer as a life-threatening disease. A global leader in the fight against breast cancer, the Foundation fulfills its mission through support of innovative breast cancer research grants, meritorious awards and educational, scientific and community outreach programs around the world. Together with its Affiliate Network, corporate partners and generous donors, the Komen Foundation has raised nearly $600 million for the fight against breast cancer.