When one thinks of competitive rowing, it's easy to picture a long, sleek boat gliding across calm water in the silent peace of an early morning or mirroring its smooth strokes on top of its own reflection on a sunny afternoon. For Olympic rower Michelle Sechser, her career has been tied more to hurricanes and typhoons, and now she's looking to make waves at the Paris Games in search of a gold medal that eluded her in 2021.
The former Tulsa Golden Hurricane rower fell just shy of medaling in the lightweight women's double sculls at the Tokyo Games in a race that she thinks was one of the most competitive events across all sports in the Olympics that year.Just one second separated the first- and fifth-place boats that navigated the muddy, choppy waters of Tokyo Bay following a typhoon that forced the postponement of the event's regular schedule.
Five boats. One second. 4 feet.
And fifth place for Sechser and partnerMolly Reckford,who was recently featured on ncaa.org.
"More times than I'm happy to admit,I have replayed that Olympic final in my mind and how painful it was to come up one second short from the gold medal," Sechser said."There was a point where I ruminatedfor a bit, and I think that's part of the processinbeing upset and disappointed. And then there was a time where it's, 'We're done sulking—time to start bulking.'"
That mind shift forcedSechser to intensify her training and tap into the discipline she learned from former Navy coxswain Kevin Harris, who coached Sechser at Tulsa from 2004 to 2008.
"We focused a lot on the discipline, the drive, the camaraderie, the work ethic," Sechser recalled of her time at Tulsa. "While we were never fast enough to make it to the NCAA championship like a lot of the big schools, (Harris) taught us to just fight as hard as we could and sort of be this small dog in the fight."
It was a meaningful visual for the 5-foot-5 Sechser, who said she always has been the shortest rower in a sport that rewards long wingspans.
"In the lightweight world of rowing, I am still a smaller athlete and the shortest person on the team, probably the shortest person you'll see on the international stage," she said.
And while Sechser acknowledges her small stature, she has never let it define her. Instead, she chooses to channel her "tall girl energy."
"I make up for it with a little extra power and a little more weight room training to be more explosive," she said."I tell myself it's a strength that I can be a little more nimble and a better sprinter in the race."
That strength has not just come from the weight room, however, as Sechser has continued to reference the Tokyo final to prepare her for one last shot at lightweight gold. The lightweight women's double event will be removed from the Olympic rowing program after the Paris Games.
"It's heartbreaking and bittersweet to know that it won't exist, but it's also exciting to me because it will feel like this grand culmination," she said.
Rather than replaying the Tokyo finish in her mind, Sechser admits to lying in bed at night and imagining another close final. This time, however, her training allows her to find another gear late in the race to surge her bow past the finish line for Olympic gold in front of a roaring crowd that was absent in Tokyo due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It's a visual that is among the many that have inspired Sechser throughout her rowing career. Growing up in Folsom, California, a 14-year-old Sechser became intrigued by the sport after watching her older sister,Jacquie,compete. Harris, who would later coach Sechser's sister on the junior national team, recruited Sechser to Tulsa, where she began realizing her potential.She fell in love with Oklahoma and ultimately remained at Tulsa after her collegiate career to earn her master's degree while serving as an assistant coach for the Golden Hurricanes. At practice one day, she was perched in the coach's boat, shouting instructions on her megaphone while trying to determine which athletes were best suited for certain boats.
And then it hit her.
Sechser recalled, "I'm watching them race back and forth, and I just had this moment where I was like, 'Yeah, I'm not done. I'm not done racing. I need to be in the boat. I'm on the wrong side of the gunnels right now.'"
It didn't take her long to find the right side as just over 100 miles down the turnpike from Tulsa was the Olympic training center in Oklahoma City.Before she knew it, she was a 10-time U.S. national team participant, a World Cup medalist and headed to her second Olympics.
She now resides in Princeton, New Jersey, home of USRowing. Sechser was named the 2022 USRowing's Female Athlete of the Year and the USRowing's Ernestine Bayer Award (Women of the Year) recipient with her partner Reckford in 2021. When on dry land, she is a product and analytics lead for Broadridge Financial Solutions.
As her rowing career winds down, Sechser imagines trading her oars for long bike vacations across Europe, but there's other European euphoria that currently takes priority.
A podium in Paris is the only thing on her mind.
"There aredays wherethe weather is cold, the rain is blowing, the wind is blowing, training is hard,andmy body aches," Sechser said. "I visualize that moment, andit chokes me up to think about what that podium moment would be like, and it's enough to carry me through."
Fortunately for Sechser, theNational Olympic Nautical Stadium of Ile-de-France inVaires-sur-Marneis known for its adverse conditions.
"I think most people think that rowing is best for flat conditions," Sechser said. "Personally, I love the wind and waves. It adds a really challenging element, where the more relaxed and loose you can be, the better you perform. So it requires less precision and a little bit more cowboy mentality. I love that, and lucky for me, the Paris venue is actually infamous for a crosswind and some pretty rough conditions. So I'm excited to just literally ride the waves."
Sechser continues her ride when the lightweight women's double sculls beginheat races on July 28 in Paris. See the full schedulehereand the streaming schedulehere.
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