City prepares to host Olympic Trials

Heavy rains this week have created potential problems for a major sporting event scheduled for next week.

Friday, April 11th 2008, 9:06 pm

By: News 9


By Alex Cameron, NEWS 9

Heavy rains this week have created potential problems for a major sporting event scheduled for next week.

The U.S. Olympic Trials for canoe and kayak are scheduled for April 18-20 on the Oklahoma River.

Athletes compete in Beijing in either canoe or kayak will be attending.

"Many of them have been training a good part of their life for this moment on the Oklahoma River," said Mike Knopp with the Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation. "They've actually moved the event from San Diego to here because of the excitement the U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Canoe-Kayak sees for Oklahoma City and their interest in our venue."

Workers are preparing Regatta Park to host the event, but officials are concerned about the condition of the water in the river, said John Rhodes with Oklahoma City Public Works.

The river is muddy, debris-laden, and flowing fast.

"We saw a steady rise from its normal 200 to 300 cubic feet per second flow on the river up to 6,000 CFS just last night," Rhodes said.

Strong current and heavy debris forced the cancellation of the dragboat nationals last summer, but officials said they think that will happened this year.

"We're seeing some small pieces that will have to be cleared out, but most of it's moving on downstream, and we don't have the huge trees and limbs and logs that we saw last year," Rhodes said.

As for the current, officials said they should be able to minimize it by draining the basins behind the upstream dams.

logo

Get The Daily Update!

Be among the first to get breaking news, weather, and general news updates from News 9 delivered right to your inbox!

More Like This

April 11th, 2008

March 22nd, 2024

March 14th, 2024

February 9th, 2024

Top Headlines

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024