Celebrate Oklahoma’s Centennial on the Oklahoma River with four days of rowing, kayaking, live music, food and more!

The excitement begins with two premier rowing events, the USA Rowing World Challenge and the Oklahoma City University Head of the Oklahoma, plus live music and entertainment, food from Oklahoma City’s finest restaurants, an art show, wine tasting, and children’s area. Special attractions include the Olympic Experience interactive plaza and Levity II, a fusion of light and shape like you’ve never seen before.

Festival hours are Friday and Saturday, 10 am-10 pm and Sunday, 10 am-1 pm. Admission and parking are free. Kayaking, cycling and children’s inflatables are $2 and Levity II is $5, or buy an all access pass for $10. Follow the links above for maps and parking information.


Join us at the Oklahoma River, October 11-14!

2007 OKLAHOMA CENTENNIAL REGATTA FESTIVAL (http://oklahomaregatta.com/home.html)

Rowing competition envisioned as major event for Oklahoma City

What is it: A four-day festival at Regatta Park in Oklahoma City featuring world-class rowing from collegiate and international teams, live entertainment, wine tasting, an arts festival, children's activities and fireworks.

When is it: The festival begins on Thursday with a corporate challenge. The USA Rowing World Challenge featuring international teams begins at 9 a.m. Friday. The Head of the Oklahoma begins Saturday morning.

How much is admission: The festival is free for all spectators. Some activities require a fee.

Where to park: Parking lots are available on the east side of Lincoln and to the north of the river. All parking is free. Trams run approximately every 10 minutes to and from the parking areas to the main entrance to Regatta Park.

Where can spectators watch races: Races can be seen on the north side of the Oklahoma River between Lincoln Bridge and I-35. There will also be bleachers available just to the east of Lincoln Bridge, which is the best spot to view the finish line. Picnic blankets are also encouraged for spectators wanting to sit along the river bank.

Who is participating: National teams from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Czech Republic, The Republic of Georgia, and Switzerland will be represented in the USA Rowing World Challenge. Colleges participating in the Head of the Oklahoma include OCU, Tulsa, Washington, Harvard, Stanford, Duke, UCLA, Penn, Texas and Central Florida.

How long are the races: The USA Rowing World Challenge will feature 500-meter sprint races and 2,000-meter races. The Head of the Oklahoma features 500-meter sprint races, 2,000-meter sprint races and 4,000-meter sprint races.

For more information: Call the Chesapeake Boathouse at (405) 552-4040 or visit The Chesapeake Boathouse (http://www.rowokc.com).

By Darnell Mayberry
Staff Writer

Imagine 300,000 people descending on Oklahoma City one weekend every October. Imagine them packing Bricktown's eateries and flooding downtown hotels. Imagine the weekend rivaling Louisville on Kentucky Derby day or Indianapolis during the Indy 500.

Now imagine rowing having that type of effect.

That's the vision of Mike Knopp, executive director of the Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation.

It's a mighty mission Knopp gladly has shouldered. This week's Oklahoma Centennial Regatta Festival, a fourth-year rowing competition that starts Thursday and has grown each year, is expected to help Knopp turn his vision into reality.

"We see this continuing to build as a major community event that people look forward to,” said Knopp, who also coaches Oklahoma City University's rowing team. "Just coming down, spending an afternoon on the river, watching the racing, enjoying the other activities and making this one of those great events that Oklahoma City is known for.

"We have the Festival of the Arts in the spring, and we think the regatta could be the big event for the fall.”

This year's Centennial Regatta again will feature a collegiate field in the Head of the Oklahoma. Rowing teams such as traditional power Harvard will compete this week at Regatta Park along with Stanford, Duke, UCLA, Texas, Penn, OCU, Tulsa and Central Florida.

But new this year is an international field that will compete in the USA Rowing World Challenge. The event starts Friday and welcomes national teams from Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland.

"We're establishing a reputation for our event,” said Knopp. "We think that with our venue and with our location being close to downtown, this is only the first of many events that we'll have down the road.”

The popularity of the event has grown each year while simultaneously increasing recreational rowing in Oklahoma City. When organizers of the event expected 500 spectators in the event's inaugural year an estimated crowd of 10,000 showed. That number doubled in year two and increased to 30,000 last year. The crowd could reach 50,000 this year.

"At one point not too long ago we were thrilled just to kind-of-be on the radar screen of the rowing community,” said Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett. "Now what we're seeing is a lot of the attention in the world of rowing is generated around Oklahoma City.”

The East Coast has historically been the nation's paramount region for rowing in the U.S., the West Coast coming second and the Midwest being an afterthought. Nearly 300,000 spectators annually attend the Head of the Charles Regatta on the Charles River in Boston, making it the world's largest rowing event.

But Oklahoma City's recent efforts — starting with the reconstruction of the Oklahoma River in 2004 and the opening of the Chesapeake Boathouse two years later — have slowly started to close the gap.

"I think this event coming up this weekend is already a world-class event,” said Ron Norick, former Oklahoma City Mayor and now chairman of the Oklahoma City Riverfront Redevelopment Authority.

"Next year with the kayak trials for the 2008 Olympics on the Oklahoma River, it has already put the Oklahoma River on the map amongst rowers both nationally and internationally. It has grown much faster and much bigger than I think any of us ever anticipated.”

And it's expected to have a larger impact on Oklahoma City as a result. City officials plan to use rowing events as another platform to raise Oklahoma City's national image, washing away myths of a dry and desolate city and replacing them with images of a city bustling and beautiful.

"The idea that we have one of the premier rowing events in the world is an eye opener for a lot of people,” said Cornett. "So I think it does tremendous things for our visibility and our image.”

Said Knopp, who hopes to see his vision get one step closer to reality this weekend: "We have a unique opportunity with the river, and I think it's sort of my role to do as much as I can to take advantage of this great resource and expose it to other people and make the most of it.”

The Oklahoma Centennial Regatta Festival: Today through Sunday

The Oklahoma Centennial Regatta Festival kicks off today on the Oklahoma River with an 18-team field corporate challenge highlighting the day's events.

The festival continues through Sunday with the fourth annual Head of the Oklahoma competition for collegiate rowers and the inaugural USA Rowing World Challenge, featuring national teams from around the world, taking place throughout the weekend.

Collegiate rowing teams such as traditional power Harvard will compete this week at Regatta Park along with Stanford, Duke, UCLA, Texas, Penn, Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Central Florida. National teams from Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland will compete in the USA Rowing World Challenge, which starts at 11 a.m. Friday.

The Festival is headquartered at the Chesapeake Boathouse, and parking and admission are free.

"We see this continuing to build as a major community event that people look forward to,” said Mike Knopp, OCU rowing coach and executive director of the Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation. "Just coming down, spending an afternoon on the river, watching the racing, enjoying the other activities and making this one of those great events that Oklahoma City is known for.”


The Oklahoma Centennial Regatta Festival
•What is it: A four-day festival at Regatta Park in Oklahoma City featuring world-class rowing from collegiate and international teams, live entertainment, wine tasting, an arts festival, children's activities and fireworks.
•When is it: The festival begins at 7 p.m. today with a corporate challenge. The USA Rowing World Challenge featuring international teams begins at 9 a.m. Friday. The Head of the Oklahoma begins Saturday morning.

•How much is admission: The festival is free for all spectators. Some activities require a fee.

•Where to park: Parking lots are available on the east side of Lincoln and to the north of the river. All parking is free. Trams are scheduled to run approximately every 10 minutes to and from the parking areas to the main entrance to Regatta Park.

•Where can spectators watch races: Races can be seen on the north side of the Oklahoma River between Lincoln and Interstate 35. There will also be bleachers available just to the east of Lincoln Bridge, which is the best spot to view the finish line. Picnic blankets are also encouraged for spectators wanting to sit along the river bank.

•Who is participating: National teams from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Czech Republic, The Republic of Georgia, and Switzerland will be represented in the USA Rowing World Challenge. Colleges participating in the Head of the Oklahoma include OCU, Tulsa, Washington, Harvard, Stanford, Duke, UCLA, Penn, Texas and Central Florida.

•How long are the races: The USA Rowing World Challenge will feature 500-meter sprint races and 2,000-meter races. The Head of the Oklahoma features 500-meter sprint races and 2,000- and 4,000-meter races.

•For more information: Call the Chesapeake Boathouse at (405) 552-4040 or visit The Chesapeake Boathouse (http://www.rowokc.com).

By Darnell Mayberry

I dropped by this evening (last night, as this is written). My wife and I didn't want to park and walk a fair distance so I did some exploring ... went south on Robinson to a point near the skateboard park, went east to Central, came north on Central and then wove my way underneath the Byers bridge, across the RR tracks shown in the pic below, and wound up at the pedestrian trail on the south side of the river. Here's a rough map which shows where the pics in this post were taken:

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/byersmap.jpg

The Byers bridge was illuminated with the new LED lights ...

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_led01.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_led01s.jpg

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_led02.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_led02s.jpg

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_led03.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_led03s.jpg

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_led04.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_led04s.jpg

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_led05.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_led05s.jpg

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_led06.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_led06s.jpg

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_led07.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_led07s.jpg

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_led08.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_led08s.jpg

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_led09.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_led09s.jpg

Views looking north and east across the Oklahoma River

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river01.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river01s.jpg

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river02.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river02s.jpg

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river03.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river03s.jpg

Beaking the above pic into pieces

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river03a.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river03as.jpg

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river03b.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river03bs.jpg

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river03c.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river03cs.jpg

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river03d.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river03ds.jpg

A different pic

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river04.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river04s.jpg

A cropped view of the above

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river04a.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river04as.jpg

Another view

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river05.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river05s.jpg

Another view

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river06.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river06s.jpg

Without good lighting and at a distance, it was hard to get any pics of the rowers other than silhouettes ...

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_rowers01.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_rowers01s.jpg

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_rowers02.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_rowers02s.jpg

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_rowers03.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_rowers03s.jpg

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_rowers04.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_rowers04s.jpg

An Olympic banner from the back side, where we were

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_usa.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_usas.jpg

Flipping the above pic

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_usa_rev.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_usa_revs.jpg

When it was time to leave, a TRAIN pulled across the point we'd entered the area from ... and it STOPPED! Yikes! Finally, after about 10 minutes, it moved along and we escaped! :)

Along the way home, on SE 15th, a good view of downtown was present ... so ...

Larger pic at http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/skyline%20views/10_13_07_skyline.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/skyline%20views/10_13_07_skylines.jpg

That's it! Later today ... the Centennial Parade!!!

Doug Dawg,
How was the attendance in your estimation?

I was wondering the same thing! I can't help with attendance ... you can see people in a few of the pictures but those that show people don't look "crowded" ... but neither was it crowded on Saturday night last year. The "people" places are more spread out to the east, also ... see the Kerr McGee Centennial Bell tower in one of the pics and that "orangy" looking venue next to it. I don't recall people "places" in the same areas last year.

Nice ESPN article at ESPN - Journey to Olympics passes through Oklahoma for rowers - Olympics (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=oly&id=3059936)

Snippet:


The U.S. Olympic Committee is famously miserly about allowing the use of the rings, so Knopp said it's an honor that the rings can be displayed during the World Challenge.

"From the USOC's perspective, putting the rings on the river ... is their salute to the Oklahoma River as a quality venue for this kind of competition," he said. "It's like a stamp of approval."
Another in San Francisco Chronicle: Oklahoma City becomes mecca for rowing (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/14/SPH1SOQKD.DTL)

It's the same Latzke article noted earlier, but it's nice to be noticed around the country, in this case, San Francisco, in an article with the headline, "Oklahoma City becomes mecca for rowing."

Here's an AP pic in an ESPN article from Thursday as teams practiced:


The Canadian national rowing team practices in Oklahoma City on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2007. Teams from nine countries are in town for the inaugural USA Rowing World Challenge on the Oklahoma River, which organizers are touting as a preview to the 2008 Olympics. Among the teams entered are the reigning world champions for men, from Canada. (AP Photo)
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_11_2007_APphoto.jpg

Very cool pics Doug. We were able to attend and had OGE passes so we were able to get into the vip tent and have food and drinks and watch the races up close. That was pretty cool! We watched the races and had some nice food and wine.

The kids played on the inflatables for a bit and that was about it.

I was hoping for some bands but I didn't see any.

It was pretty calm and not a whole lot going on but a nice evening nonetheless.

i went to see the luminarium or whatever it is called, and by the time i got down there they had taken it down! not happy about that. did anybody get to go through and check it out?

I was there saturday morning 10-noon. It was very crowded and I was very impressed with the event. I'll have pics up soon.

I wish that my my wife and I hadn't been so bushed when we went down to have a look ... while the south side of the river gave some different vantage points than last year's visit at the same time, what it didn't give were good pics of the boathouse, people, and rowers. And, like I said, I surely could have used my tripod which I didn't think to take along. It was kind of an adventure, though, worming our way across the railroad tracks and then, at the end, getting locked in when the train decided to stop on the exit-route tracks!

For them that wants 'em, I've uploaded 4 higher resolution pics of those that I thought "most worthy," those below (including an improved skyline pic, the best I took that night). Smaller images of those, and a link to the larger and much larger images, are below:

3264 px wide resolution: http://www.dougloudenback.com/downtown/10_13_07_river01large.jpg
1024 px wide resolution: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river01.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river01s.jpg

3264 px wide resolution: http://www.dougloudenback.com/downtown/10_13_07_river03large.jpg
1024 px wide resolution: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river03.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river03s.jpg

3264 px wide resolution: http://www.dougloudenback.com/downtown/10_13_07_river04large.jpg
1024 px wide resolution: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river04.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/oklahoma%20river/10_13_07_river04s.jpg

2890 px wide resolution and less compression: http://www.dougloudenback.com/downtown/10_13_07_skylinelarge.jpg
1024 px wide resolution: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/skyline%20views/10_13_07_skyline.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/skyline%20views/10_13_07_skylines.jpg

Great pics Doug...Thanks :)