Southeastern Conference adding rowing to sponsored sports

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WELCOME BACK. OU IS ABOUT TO MAKE A SPLASH IN THE SEC. AND IT’S NOT JUST A FIGURE OF SPEECH. THE SEC HAS NOW ADDED ROWING TO THEIR LIST OF SPONSORED SPORTS. COCO KYLIE THOMAS TALKED WITH THE HEAD COACH FOR OKLAHOMA ROWING ON WHAT THIS NEW CHAPTER WILL BRING HERE AT OU, ATHLETES ARE TRAINING FOR A NEW ERA AS THEY ROW INTO THE SEC. FROM THE OPEN WATER OF THE OKLAHOMA RIVER TO THEIR TRAINING FACILITY, OKLAHOMA ROWING PERFORMS AT A HIGH LEVEL. BUT NOW THE PROGRAM WILL TEST NEW WATERS IN THE SEC. THIS IS A WAY FOR US TO SEPARATE AND CREATE REALLY A NEXT LEVEL CHAMPIONSHIP. SOMETHING THAT FAR EXCEEDS, I THINK, ANYTHING DONE IN THE COUNTRY, THE SEC HAS ANNOUNCED ROWING AS THE 22ND SPORT TO BE SPONSORED BY THE CONFERENCE, MAKING IT THE 13TH WOMEN’S SPORT THAT WILL SELECT A CONFERENCE CHAMPION. WE DIDN’T KNOW HOW THEY WOULD VOTE, WHAT THEY WOULD THINK BECAUSE THIS IS A SPORT THAT’S RATHER UNFAMILIAR TO THE SEC. BEFORE THE ADDITION OF TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA, IT TAKES A LOT OF STRONG, STRONG WOMEN TO MAKE IT HAPPEN. AND TO WIN. SO I THINK IT’S THE PERFECT SPORT TO TO FIT INTO THE SEC. NOW. OU JOINS THE RANKS OF THREE OTHER SEC SCHOOLS WITH THE VARSITY ROWING TEAM TEXAS, ALABAMA AND TENNESSEE, WITH THE FIRST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULED FOR NEXT MAY. THIS IS GOING TO BE UNIQUE BECAUSE WE’RE ACTUALLY THE FOUR SCHOOLS THAT ARE PROBABLY THE MOST DOMINANT AND SERIOUS. AND, YOU KNOW, FORWARD LOOKING IN THE SPORT OF ROWING WITH ACCESS TO RIVER SPORT AND THE OLYMPIC SPONSORED TRAINING CENTER, OKLAHOMA ROWING EXPECTS TO DOMINATE THE WATER. WE HAVE A COMMUNITY THAT’S SO CENTERED AROUND IT. I THINK THAT GIVES US AN AUTOMATIC BENEFIT, AN AUTOMATIC BOOST WHEN WE GO IN AND COMPETE AGAINST DIFFERENT SCHOOLS. REPORTING KYLIE THOMAS KOCO FIVE NEWS. YEAH, IT’S AN INCREDIBLE FACILITY THERE ON THE OKLAHOMA RIVER. THIS IS SO COOL. ROWING IS HARD. IT IS HARD WORK. IT IS HARD. YOU KNOW I’M LOOKING AT THAT AND I’M THINKING, YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY ELSE COMPLAINS ABOUT OU GETTING TO PLAY HERE IN OKLAHOMA CITY. YEAH. JUST WAIT TILL WE START DOING IT AND DOMINATING HERE IN OKLAHOMA CITY WITH ROWING AS WELL. WHO ELSE HAS A FACILITY LIKE THAT? NOBODY. EXACTLY. I DON’T KN