Tulsa Rowers Break Longest Continual Row World Records

Tulsa, OK – Brock Turner and Alex Workman spent the weekend rowing at the Tulsa Rowing Club with one goal in mind, setting a world record. The pair started rowing on concept 2 rowing ergometers at 5:16pm on Friday January 27th with the intention to break three world records by rowing continuously as long as possible. Alex Workman had to row longer than 28 hours to break the under 19 lightweight world record. Brock Turner had the goal of rowing 36 hours or more to break the record in his age category. By 5am on Sunday the 29th of January both rowers had broken and now hold their respective world record for longest continual row in their age group.

Click here to watch a movie of Brock and Alex starting their attempt at the record

Both rowers continued to row until 6am on Sunday when they finally put the “oar” down. The lightweight record for continual rowing held by Alex Workman now stands at 35 hours, 7 hours better than the old record. Brock Turner beat the previous standard by one hour and now holds the record for longest continual row at 37 hours. In addition, the pair now holds the tandem record for longest continual row at 37 hours for the 19 and under age category.

Brock Turner (left) and Alex Workman (right)

“I knew what 24 hrs felt like from my previous world record attempt and was prepared to deal with that pain, but 37 hours is a whole different world, ” said Turner. “Every part of your body is screaming at you to stop and you’ve just got to keep pulling!”

“I didn’t know how long I could last, but I was prepared to push myself to the limit and I got there. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” said Workman. “The most difficult part wasn’t the rowing but was knowing you have to deal with the pain until the end. It takes a different mindset to push yourself to that point. It’s crazy!”

The world record attempt was a part of a fundraiser Row-A-Thon for Tulsa Rowing Club Juniors. 50 athletes raised money for the club by rowing as many km as possible in a 12-hour period. The club hopes to raise $15k+ to purchase equipment and to subsidize a trip to Henley Royal Regatta in the UK this summer. The high school athletes in the club collectively rowed over 2500 km during the fundraiser. Each athlete averaged 50km with many of the athletes rowing a marathon distance of 42.195km all in one sitting.

Tulsa Rowing Club is a nonprofit serving the Tulsa and surrounding areas. For more information on the club, visit the website at http://www.tulsarowing.org/juniors. You can follow the club on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/TulsaRCJuniors.

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