The nation's top flowriders are gearing up to hit the artificial waves at RIVERSPORT this Friday through Sunday, when the 2026 OklaFlow Finals bring amateur, outlaw flowboard, and pro divisions to Oklahoma City for a three-day competition that's free for spectators to watch.
According to KFOR, the event kicks off Friday with check-in at 4 p.m., followed by practice sessions from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday brings the first full day of competition, with practice from 8 to 10 a.m. and contests running 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. across youth, junior, women's, masters, and open divisions. Sunday wraps things up with a shorter practice window from 8:30 to 10 a.m., then competition from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. featuring the outlaw and all-pro divisions, with prize money on the line for the pros.
How the Wave Machine Works
The waves riders will be carving are man-made, generated by Surf OKC's FlowRider “Wave in a Box Double” sheet wave system, which pumps a 2.5- to 3-inch layer of water up a padded incline at 24 to 25 mph, letting two competitors ride simultaneously, according to TravelOK. Surf OKC opened at RIVERSPORT in August 2020 as a $1.9 million artificial surfing complex, financed through MAPS 3, Oklahoma City's voter-approved 1-cent sales tax capital improvement initiative, per the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber. That tax program funded $777 million in debt-free projects across the city. Surf OKC is presented in partnership with Oklahoma's Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, a state constitutionally established trust that funds community health and active living initiatives.
Anyone hoping to try the wave themselves outside of competition should know the venue enforces minimum height requirements — 42 inches for bodyboarding and 48 inches for stand-up flowboarding, both maintained by trained wave operators.
RIVERSPORT's Growing National Profile
RIVERSPORT is no stranger to hosting flowboarding's elite. The facility made its debut as a host venue on the North American FLOW Tour circuit in August 2022 and went on to host the FLOW Tour National Championship in 2023, per FlowRider. The venue is run by the RIVERSPORT Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit formerly known as the OKC Boathouse Foundation, which manages outdoor sports facilities across the Boathouse District, Lake Overholser, and Lake Hefner.
The OklaFlow Finals land during an especially busy summer for the facility. Just weeks earlier, RIVERSPORT hosted the 2026 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships in July, drawing more than 300 elite international athletes from 50 countries, as Hoodline previously reported. Then, on August 8, the venue held its fourth annual PaddleMania, opening its whitewater rapids to amateur raft racers and custom boat competitors free of charge.
From Dry Riverbed to Olympic Venue
The site's transformation is dramatic by any measure. Before MAPS-funded revitalization, the Oklahoma River section running through downtown Oklahoma City was a dry, flood-controlled channel of the North Canadian River that municipal crews mowed just two or three times a year, according to LUXIERE Magazine. Today, RIVERSPORT's $45.2 million whitewater center has been selected as an official venue for canoe slalom and kayak cross competitions during the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympic Games — placing this weekend's flowboarding action inside a facility with genuine Olympic pedigree.
