Kat Schiro was born to be in – or on – the water.
Schiro, a junior from Huntsville, Ala., rows the single sculls for the Oklahoma City University and is this week’s Super Star of the Week.
Her introduction to water began almost immediately. “I learned how to swim before I learned how to crawl,” Schiro remembered. “Pretty much as soon as I could be put in water, I was put in water. I had this automatic natural talent for the water.”
With an instructor and collegiate swimmer for a mother, it seems like no surprise that Shiro would be a water baby and eventual competitive swimmer.
“I never learned how to swim competitively until I was about 12 years old,” Schiro said. “My mother got burned out when she swam so that’s why she never let me swim competitively until I was old enough and wanted to do it on my own.”
When the switch from rowing to swimming occurred, Schiro’s mother embraced the change to an on-the-water sport rather than in-the-water activities. Schiro and her family moved from Georgia to Alabama and a postcard-like scene painted a new athletic direction for the teen.
“It was like really cliché, really corny. I saw the boats rowing up the river as the sun was going down and the glow off the water and I was like, ‘that looks so amazing’.”
The transition began for Schiro to begin sweep rowing, and later sculling, which she does at OCU.
“I went to practice and I loved it the first day, I knew this was what I wanted to do,” Schiro said.
The move to competitive rowing has been one that Schiro has excelled at, racing internationally this summer and earning numerous top finishes in her rowing career, including the gold medal in the women’s lightweight singles at last weekend’s Head of the Hooch Regatta.
Schiro has not been immune to “swimming” in the river, however, having flipped her rowing shell a couple times.
“All my coaches have always said, and especially Melanie Borger the OCU women’s coach, that you’re not a real single rower until you flip your boat,” Schiro said. “I didn’t flip my boat until probably like a year after I was doing it. I flipped once here on the Oklahoma River just not paying attention in the dark and my oar hit. It was fun, you just get back in. Practice wasn’t over, so you just keep going.”
Swimming will continue to be an activity in which Schiro participates, but now it’s just for training purposes rather that competitively. Swimming is a cross training exercise for many elite rowers, and the new Devon Boathouse and Oklahoma City High Performance Center has an endless pool for training. It’s an activity that brings Schiro’s love of water full circle, from swimming before she could walk, to swimming while she competes for the OCU rowing team.
While Schiro might not be racing for medals in the breaststroke or backstroke anymore, she’ll be honing on her rowing stroke from her spot above the water, perched in her boat, racing on the river.
More on Kat:
Career plans: Nutrition, personal trainer, coach
Favorite game show: Who’s Line is it Anyway?
My next vacation is to: Italy possibly?
If I played another sport, it would be: Swimming
Personal goal this year, athletic or not: Paint a picture
