April 10, 2006

Norman, OK (CSTV U-WIRE) -- Oklahoma City - An OU crew team scrimmage was delayed two hours Saturday morning when the body of an unidentified black man was discovered minutes before the scrimmage was scheduled to begin.

The body was discovered under an Interstate 35 bridge in the Oklahoma River in Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma City police Lt. Kyle Webb said the body was badly decomposed and little could be determined at this stage of the investigation.

Joe Howard, head coach for the men's crew team, said a member of the official boat launch, a team of officials sent out prior to any competition to check the water, had seen the body and called it in to 911. However, the organization that employs the officials, Chesapeake Boat House, was unable to verify this information.

The scrimmage was scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m. Teams from around the Midwest, including the University of Colorado and Wichita State University, met teams from OU, Oklahoma State University and Oklahoma City University at the river, said Darcy Adams, head coach of the women's crew team.

Adams said the scrimmage would likely have been delayed anyway, due to the late arrival of the Colorado team.

Howard agreed with Adams' assessment.

"Right when Colorado arrived is when we were first told about the body," Howard said.

Adams said her team was eventually allowed to race at about 10:30 a.m., and the competitors did not seem too distracted by the scene.

Lauren Landrum, international business junior and a rower on the women's novice four team, said the discovery did not have a lasting effect on the team.

"I think it was quite a shocker," Landrum said. "But after the first race started, that's all people thought of. The day went on and the sun came out."

In addition to the delay, the first race was shortened to accommodate the investigation, Landrum said.

Krissy Kendall, health and exercise science junior and a rower on the varsity four team, said the course was originally 2,000 meters, and the novice four team raced 750 meters of it. Kendall also said this could have been helpful for the novice four team because the members of which are still familiarizing themselves with each other and the boat.

"I think for our team it was an advantage," Kendall said. "They had only gone out in that boat one time."

But after an intense day of rowing, the question remained whether the day's events would have future repercussions for the teams or their training locale.

Howard said having a crime scene so close to the crew team is unlikely to significantly affect the team.

"From where we were it was about 1,000 meters away," Howard said. "To my knowledge this is the first time (this has happened). But in terms of safety whenever we are out there, we're in a large group."

This may be a first for the OU crew team but incidents like these are sometimes common.

"Unfortunately it's not uncommon. I've heard of several other crews that this has happened to around the country, but you never think it's going to happen to you or in your river," Kendall said.

Webb said the department will continue to investigate the area under the I-35 bridge as if it were a crime scene but that in such cases its hard to determine the origin of the body.

"Your crime scene, if there was one, could be miles up the river," Webb said.

At the end of the scrimmage, most of the rowers were leery of the murky water and some decided to forgo a time-honored tradition: throwing the coxswains, the people keeping the rowing cadence, of the winning regattas in the water, Kendall said.

OU's teams had a good day.

"The day did not start off so well and ended great," Kendall said.

(C) 2006 Oklahoma Daily via CSTV U-WIRE