On Saturday, February 4th, 2023, the Tulsa Youth Rowing Association competed in the SouthWest Ergometer Amateur Tournament (“SWEAT”) held in Dallas, TX. This indoor rowing event features events for different age and weight categories. Individual athletes race two thousand meters on Concept2 rowing machines and try to record the fastest time possible in their age and experience categories.
Bethany Klingeman (Booker T. Washington) brought home the gold medal in the Women’s Junior Event with a time of 7:27.5, closely followed by teammate Caroline Briggs (Holland Hall), who won the silver medal (7:29.6). Klingeman recently signed a letter of intent to attend and row at Stetson University in Florida and Briggs will attend and row at University of Kansas this coming fall. Another notable performance was by Halee McMahan who rowed to the 5th place finish in the same event.
“The Racing was awesome. I have never been so proud of myself. I knew when that race ended that I had given it all I’d got. No matter the outcome, I had won by my standards. The cherry on top was that I managed to win my event. Even better was my teammates trying just as hard and showing that the work we put on the erg made us come out on top. None of this could have been close to possible without Tino being the best coach, pushing us to greatness. All this to say, the weekend was fantastic, and our work showed! Also, thank you, Coach Bergenroth for coming out to support us. It means a lot!” said Klingeman.
In the women’s junior lightweight event, Lincoln Christian junior Emory Oakes posted the second-fastest time in the event to win the silver medal.
In the women’s junior coxswain event, Alanis Morales (Jenks) rowed an impressive race to clinch the silver medal in a time of 4:21.4 over a distance of 1000m.
On the boy’s side of the competition, Andrew John (Bixby) rowed to an impressive 5th place in the Mens Jr Lightweight event in a time of 7:32.2. Additionally, Jacob McKinney (Bixby) rowed to 14th place with a time of 7:01.4.
“I couldn’t be happier with how we performed this weekend at SWEAT. It’s always positive to see that the work we have been putting in all winter is paying off, as sometimes it’s hard to know where you stand. All the athletes raced hard and pushed the envelope, and we look forward to the rest of our spring season. The support the athletes received from their fellow teammates and parents was just amazing. This was an awesome start to the season, and the goal is to continue building off this momentum. Next stop: Austin!” said TYRA Head Coach Valentino Angelini.
TYRA looks to continue its spring campaign in Austin at the Heart of Texas regatta on February 25th and 26th.
The club runs summer camps during June for middle and high school athletes looking to try the sport for the first time. For more information, please visit the club website at https://www.okrowing.org or contact info@okrowing.org