TU Ranks Among Top Programs For Women’s Rowing

The closest coast to Tulsa is 540 miles away, but that hasn't stopped TU from fielding one of the top women's rowing programs in the country.

"The only way to be a team that's noticed is to do something noticeable,” said women’s rowing coach Kevin Harris.

The team is made up of rowers from just about everywhere. Marcia Vidaurri is a senior from Miami.

"I didn't know where Tulsa, Oklahoma was when I was in Miami,” said Vidaurri. “Couldn't point it out on a map to you, and now, it's really great to see that we're really making a statement and our name's out there now."

Maddie Lyons is a junior from Seattle.

"I thought, ‘Yeah, I kind of want to come on an official here; this is kinda groovy,’" said Lyons.

But if you thought that was far, Taylah Eder is from Christchurch, New Zealand.

They all said they knew almost instantly that TU was home for them.

Every time TU goes up against a traditional rowing program, they kinda got a little chip on their shoulder. They want to show these other programs that they're for real and that here in Green Country, middle America, we're pretty good too.

“We just finished the race, we got to sort of the end, and they kind of turned to each other like, 'Who's Tulsa?' Eder recalled. “And we all turned to each other like, ‘We are, we're going to be here for a while.’"

That's led to even more recognition back home and on campus.

"He said, 'Oh, you guys are really good, aren't you?' I was like, 'I'll take it. Yeah, we are. Thank you. We work hard for that. We are good.'"

"When I first came here in 2002, people didn't really think of rowing in Oklahoma,” said Harris. “Whereas now, people are really like, ‘Ok, yeah, there are some good teams there.’"

And they plan to keep working, stroke by stroke.