Former Miami Rowing Coach Passes Away

The U Family lost another this past weekend as former rowing coach Joseph “Okie” O’Connor drowned at Tempe Town Lake in Arizona, having fallen off his boat and unable to be pulled to safety. Others in the area rowed out to where O’Conner went overboard but no one could locate him in the 18-to-20 foot deep water. His body was recovered hours later.

O’Connor was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and came to Miami in 1986 as the program’s first-ever rowing coach. He turned a club sport into something legitimate, the program having moved into the Ronald W. Shane Watersports Center in 1993 and three years later UM recognized rowing as a varsity sport.

Months after that O’Conner was named Southeast Collegiate Coach Of The Year.

Okie coached at Miami until the 2001 season, his fifteen years at UM building a program from scratch and his legacy still standing today. A tragic day for the U Family. All our best to the O’Connor family and all who knew Joe.

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