metro
05-23-2008, 07:31 AM
OKC moving up the ladder in water sports
Journal Record
May 23, 2008
OKLAHOMA CITY – Mike Knopp has some big ideas, and after his early successes, it would probably be hard to ever find anyone standing in his way.
Knopp is executive director of the Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation and is head coach of the rowing team at Oklahoma City University. If Knopp had his way, Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma River would be the water sports hub of America. And in the past year, there has been no shortage of events on the river, and Knopp has been the catalyst.
The activities will fire up again Saturday and Sunday when Knopp and the foundation host the American Collegiate Rowing Association National Championship. More than 600 athletes will represent 41 colleges and universities during the rowing event, which will run from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day.
The ACRA is the latest in a list of events that comprise the Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation Champion Series, which includes nine major events and several others over a three-year period. Up to 5,000 visitors related to the teams and coaches are expected to attend, and since there is no admission charge, there could be many more local fans in the stands.
So far this year, the foundation has hosted the Olympic Trials of canoe/kayak and the Central Youth Champion in rowing. Next up after this weekend is the USA Canoe/Kayak Championship in August, and in October many clubs and universities will be represented during the Oklahoma City University Head of the Oklahoma Regatta.
“We went from having the OCU Head of the Oklahoma last year and were able to bring in prominent teams in the rowing world,” Knopp said. “That kicked it off, and due to the feedback from the U.S. National team and others at the world challenge last October, we built off the momentum. It points to Oklahoma City to becoming a real Mecca in water sports.”
Knopp’s OCU team will be part of the action, which will include club teams from the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University. The ACRA will include several divisions, including men’s varsity eight, junior varsity eight, freshman-novice eight, varsity four, freshman-novice four, lightweight four and pair. Women also will compete with the same divisions.
Oklahoma City has hosted water sports events for decades, but it really came to light in 1989 when the U.S. Olympic Festival came to town. At that time, the rowing events were in the North Canadian River at the edge of Lake Overholser.The Oklahoma River yields many more opportunities, Knopp said.
“When we started back in the 1990s, we had hosted small regional events, mostly informal, to get people to Oklahoma City,” Knopp said. “The river there was not real conducive to events because it’s not very big. Lake Hefner and Lake Overholser themselves have too much open water to have a real official rowing event. With our winds, it can create some problems and make conditions challenging for big events.”
He said the Oklahoma River offers shelter the lakes do not. “It is very protected downtown and is wide enough to accommodate all the lanes you need to host an official regulation event,” he said.
Knopp said he hopes the city can be to rowing and other water sports what it is to softball. “We’re centrally located and it makes it accessible to people from across America,” he said. “It makes Oklahoma City the destination, sort of like softball with the Women’s College World Series. We see this as a great opportunity for us. We’ll be hosting it again next year and it has the potential to be the world’s largest collegiate national championship.
We expect next year’s numbers to far outdo this year. It’s only going to get bigger.” ACRA President Gregg Hartsuff said Oklahoma City is an excellent venue.“The facilities at the Chesapeake Boathouse and the race course are both world-class, and it’s in an urban setting, so there are plenty of hotels and restaurants to support the event,” Hartsuff said. “It seemed like the logical choice for us.”
http://journalrecord.com/_images/articles/t_labsjs-rowing-%20jp.jpg
The American Collegiate Rowing Association National Championship will be Saturday and Sunday along the Oklahoma River. The event will be part of the Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation Champion Series. (Photo by Jennifer Pitts)
Journal Record
May 23, 2008
OKLAHOMA CITY – Mike Knopp has some big ideas, and after his early successes, it would probably be hard to ever find anyone standing in his way.
Knopp is executive director of the Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation and is head coach of the rowing team at Oklahoma City University. If Knopp had his way, Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma River would be the water sports hub of America. And in the past year, there has been no shortage of events on the river, and Knopp has been the catalyst.
The activities will fire up again Saturday and Sunday when Knopp and the foundation host the American Collegiate Rowing Association National Championship. More than 600 athletes will represent 41 colleges and universities during the rowing event, which will run from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day.
The ACRA is the latest in a list of events that comprise the Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation Champion Series, which includes nine major events and several others over a three-year period. Up to 5,000 visitors related to the teams and coaches are expected to attend, and since there is no admission charge, there could be many more local fans in the stands.
So far this year, the foundation has hosted the Olympic Trials of canoe/kayak and the Central Youth Champion in rowing. Next up after this weekend is the USA Canoe/Kayak Championship in August, and in October many clubs and universities will be represented during the Oklahoma City University Head of the Oklahoma Regatta.
“We went from having the OCU Head of the Oklahoma last year and were able to bring in prominent teams in the rowing world,” Knopp said. “That kicked it off, and due to the feedback from the U.S. National team and others at the world challenge last October, we built off the momentum. It points to Oklahoma City to becoming a real Mecca in water sports.”
Knopp’s OCU team will be part of the action, which will include club teams from the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University. The ACRA will include several divisions, including men’s varsity eight, junior varsity eight, freshman-novice eight, varsity four, freshman-novice four, lightweight four and pair. Women also will compete with the same divisions.
Oklahoma City has hosted water sports events for decades, but it really came to light in 1989 when the U.S. Olympic Festival came to town. At that time, the rowing events were in the North Canadian River at the edge of Lake Overholser.The Oklahoma River yields many more opportunities, Knopp said.
“When we started back in the 1990s, we had hosted small regional events, mostly informal, to get people to Oklahoma City,” Knopp said. “The river there was not real conducive to events because it’s not very big. Lake Hefner and Lake Overholser themselves have too much open water to have a real official rowing event. With our winds, it can create some problems and make conditions challenging for big events.”
He said the Oklahoma River offers shelter the lakes do not. “It is very protected downtown and is wide enough to accommodate all the lanes you need to host an official regulation event,” he said.
Knopp said he hopes the city can be to rowing and other water sports what it is to softball. “We’re centrally located and it makes it accessible to people from across America,” he said. “It makes Oklahoma City the destination, sort of like softball with the Women’s College World Series. We see this as a great opportunity for us. We’ll be hosting it again next year and it has the potential to be the world’s largest collegiate national championship.
We expect next year’s numbers to far outdo this year. It’s only going to get bigger.” ACRA President Gregg Hartsuff said Oklahoma City is an excellent venue.“The facilities at the Chesapeake Boathouse and the race course are both world-class, and it’s in an urban setting, so there are plenty of hotels and restaurants to support the event,” Hartsuff said. “It seemed like the logical choice for us.”
http://journalrecord.com/_images/articles/t_labsjs-rowing-%20jp.jpg
The American Collegiate Rowing Association National Championship will be Saturday and Sunday along the Oklahoma River. The event will be part of the Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation Champion Series. (Photo by Jennifer Pitts)