An OCU rower recently broke a world record.
Ruthie Lacy, nursing freshman, set a new world record on the Concept2 Indoor Rower for the Lightweight Women 17-18 category, with a mark of 317 meters rowed in one minute. Lacy broke the record Sept. 28 at Devon Boathouse in Oklahoma City.
Lacy said she first considered attempting to break the record after seeing the record’s marks online earlier in the semester.
“I just kind of looked it up on the internet and saw that it was a number I thought I could break. So, I told my coach, and he was like, ‘yeah, let’s go for it,’” Lacy said.
Lacy said Hadzo Habibovic, head rowing coach, was required to send in a video of her weighing in and completing the piece, as well as a photo of the rowing machine displaying her final marks, to the Concept2 rowing database for the record’s verification.
“Honestly, I just went for it,” Lacy said. “It’s fall season, so our training is geared more towards lower intensity workouts and things, so I wasn’t training at all for it. It was definitely cool to see that I could still pull super hard numbers, even with a different training environment.”
Lacy said her teammates were supportive of her throughout the process.
“They were super excited,” Lacy said. “In a way, they were more excited than I was, which is really funny. They were super hype about it and always cheered me on, which was very nice of them.”
Lacy said being a world record holder has not changed the way she views her athletic ability.
“I don’t really feel any different, to be completely honest,” Lacy said. “Maybe it just hasn’t set in yet. I’m not sure how exactly to describe it, but I just feel like I did my best, personally, and that feels nice.”
Lacy said breaking the record could help her with future athletic endeavors.
“Going into college, I didn’t really have a lot of expectations for myself,” Lacy said. “I just kind of thought, ‘whatever happens, happens.’ This feels like it’s really setting up my college career pretty well, and it will look good on my rowing resume if I decide to go for national teams. So, this could really help me out in the long run.”
Hadzo Habibovic said he was confident in Lacy’s ability to set a new record.
“We thought the world record was certainly attainable,” Habibovic said. “We realized early on, while doing speed work and short-interval pieces during practice, that she may be in the ballpark for beating the record for her age and weight category.”
Habibovic said he believes this record is just the beginning of Lacy’s athletic accomplishments.
“She views it as being not such a big deal, because there are a lot of different rowing records out there for several different times and distances and events,” Habibovic said. “I think she’s going to break a few more, to be honest.”
Habibovic said he plans to work with Lacy to attempt more records before she ages out of her current category.
“Once she turns 19, things get a bit tricky with the age categories,” Habibovic said. “That happens next month, I believe, so I’m hoping for some more records before then. She wants to be on the national team, eventually, so I’m hoping that will give her a little spark.”
Habibovic said Lacy’s achievement speaks to her character and integrity.
“She’s always ready to go, whatever the challenge is,” Habibovic said. “She’s always asking to be pushed more and more. She’s very driven and committed, which is very rare, especially for such a young athlete. This is just a small example of that.”
Lacy said she encourages students to give rowing a try.
“I honestly wasn’t going to do rowing at first, as my main sport,” Lacy said. “What’s really cool about it is that anyone can join at any level. A lot of the best Olympic rowers actually started in college, so it’s not like soccer or golf, where you basically have to do it from birth. So, I think anyone should try it if they’re interested at all.”
Habibovic said he regularly accepts new members of the rowing team.
“If students want to come see the boathouse or give rowing a try, we are pretty lenient with giving people a week or two to see if they want to stick around,” Habibovic said. “If anyone on campus is interested in trying a new sport, I encourage them to contact me.”
Students interested in joining the rowing team can contact Habibovic at hhabibovic@okcu.edu. For more on the rowing team and other sports updates, readers can visit the OCUSports website.
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