The Oregon Rafting Team began taking shape in 2002, when longtime river runner and football coach Tim Brink pulled together a crew of former rugby and college football teammates for a local raft race. After years of success in the regional whitewater racing scene, Brink shifted his competitive focus fully to rafting and officially established ORT in 2005 with paddlers from across the Pacific Northwest.

The team grew from a scrappy athletic crew into a serious whitewater racing organization, bringing together athletes from backgrounds like football, rugby, kayaking, wrestling, gymnastics, endurance sports, and river guiding. Since then, ORT has become a dominant force in West Coast raft racing, earning 15 West Coast championships and a 2024 national championship while also expanding its mission into conservation, river cleanups, youth and veteran trips, and promoting the sport of rafting.