Why Varsity is the best day of the year for me

My father usually keeps his gold-plated ‘tins’ in the safe, but he agrees to take his rowing medals out for me. In the 1980s, he rowed at Varsity several times as part of Njord, the ‘Old Four' team of Leiden's student rowing club. He even won the competition in 1987 and 1988, something that Njord has not managed to do since then.

Sometimes, I tease him, saying that the Utrecht student rowing club of which I am a member now has more medals than my father. Triton has won three times in the past five years. My father rolls his eyes, but I can also see he is proud that I am now part of a world of which he has such fond memories.

From harbour canal to heroic field
Varsity has been the highlight of the student rowing calendar for 141 years. The competition takes place on the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal, which connects the port of Amsterdam with the Ruhr area. It is the busiest canal in the world, but on a Sunday in April, it changes into the battleground for eternal fame in the student rowing world. The muddy meadow next door, near Houten, transforms into a festival site where students can have drinks from dawn onwards. And if their Old Four wins, even grown men will shed a tear.

All kinds of boats, from eights to skiffs, take to the water that day, but the ‘Old Fours Race’ is the absolute highlight as the strongest rowers of each association, as well as their respective coxswains, compete for the honour. Traditionally, the competition focused on men, but since 2011, there has been a final for ladies' Old Four teams as well.

What makes it special
What makes Varsity so special is that everyone comes to watch, not only the fanatic competitive rowers who are on the water every day but also recreational rowers, also known as 'compos'. They are usually found in the committee room or the ‘hall’ behind the ‘buffet’ (aka the bar). Where other competitions usually pass them by, this day is experienced by all Tritonians.

That is why Maaike Wulfse, who was part of the organising Varsity Committee last year, appreciates this day so much. “Only on this day is the gap between ‘competitors’ and ‘compos’ closed.” Two worlds that do not always understand each other suddenly stand side by side along the canal in jacket and tie - the ‘association dress code’ - shouting for the same boats.

Triton fans cheer on the winning Old Four in 2023. Photo: DUB

Triton wins Varsity
For the Utrecht-based Triton, Varsity begins well before the start. On the Wednesday before the competition, Triton organises a Varsity dinner where all teams in the competition wish the Old Four good luck with a lullepot, an improvised funny story.

This year, UVSV, the sorority headquartered at Drift, honours the goddess Amphitrite with a ceremonial doping of a boat. They hope the goddess will bring them prosperity in their battle on the water. This event will happen on Thursday. The evening before the Varsity, the Triton men at PHRM - an association part of the USC fraternity, headquartered at Janskerkhof - hold their own ritual: burning a boat to bring good luck to the Old Four. 

On the day of the competition, Triton members want nothing more than to jump into the icy canal. After all, that's how they congratulate their Old Four if they win. The winning rowers then receive a golden can.

In 2019, Triton won the main event after 52 years. Janskerkhof was coloured dark blue that evening because thousands of (former) Triton members gathered there to celebrate the long-awaited victory. Triton also won the golden cans in 2023 and 2024. The party in USC's headquarters, also known as the Yellow Castle, continued until the early hours.

Triton wint de Varsity in 2019. Foto: DUB

Tribute to the Varsity Committee
Behind Varsity's magic lies a group of ten UU students who work on every detail for months on behalf of all members of the Royal Dutch Student Rowing Association. These Triton members, also known as the Varsity Committee, do this alongside 'supercrewers' and hundreds of first-year crew members from all other KNSRB associations.

The Varsity Committee in 2025. Photo: Varsity Committee

The committee practically lives on the premises in the week before the competition. They usually sleep in the finish tower, between containers full of driving plates, walkie-talkies and scripts. The nights are short, and the work is hard, but what they get in return is worth gold: good memories and a bond that lasts.

My mother knows that better than anyone. She was on the 112th and 113th Varsity Committees in 1995 and 1996. She met her best friends there, as well as the one who would become the father of her children. “We always went to USC in the run-up to the competition,” she explains. “Your father was always there too because he was a secretary-treasurer for KNSRB. That's where we met and fell in love!”

Top left: Stickers from several Varsities. Top right: Phine’s mother and her committee. Bottom left: her father and mother shortly after meeting in 1994. Bottom center: Phine's mother (bottom left) with other women from the Varsity Committee. 

Rowing history on the kitchen table
My father knows the Varsity grounds both as a board member at KNSRB and as a former winner. As he delves into his memories, he spreads rowing tins, board photos and old Varsity stickers over the kitchen table. We go through each piece together, sipping beers from his Varsity beer glasses. I recognise the same stickers from my mother's Varsity years: they say Varsity 112 and 113.

Above: Phine's father on bow. Middle: Varsity cans, below: father on stroke. Photos from family archives

At the start myself
The apple didn't fall far from the tree. In 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, my brother and I both joined Triton, just like my mother thirty years earlier. We both started competitive rowing. My brother ended up in the first-year lightweight eight, while I ended up in the lightweight women's double four. As lightweight rowers, we were not Old Four material, to my father's slight disappointment. But hey, what do you expect when you reproduce with a coxswain? For her, the lighter, the better.

After one season, my brother had had enough, but I wanted to experience a real competition without social distancing measures, with boats and competition lanes filled with people. I moved up to the middle group and was selected for the lightweight women's double two.

In 2022, I was also allowed to start on the Varsity. Unfortunately, I did not have my father's talented genes, but being there alone was something I will not forget. It was quite special to be part of the competition that was indirectly responsible for my existence.

Phine rowing. Family photo.

Canal filled with Olympians
What can we expect from next Sunday? According to Triton head coach Coen Eggenkamp, ​​it promises to be a particularly strong year because the Olympians who participated in Paris and the national rowers preparing for the 2028 Olympic Games will be allowed to start. This means the level will be higher than in recent years. Nevertheless, Eggenkamp estimates the chances for his men's team to be high.

With three former winners (Eli Brouwer, Pieter van Veen and Bart Lauwers) on the boat, he thinks he has a strong Old Four. "With newcomers Timo van Eijden and coxswain Hanne Gielliet, we can consider ourselves serious contenders." Skøll is stronger on paper, as it has more Olympians, but we have more experience with winning Varsity." Nereus, also from Amsterdam, is another team to look out for, in his view.

As for the women, Triton is fielding a team of newcomers: Josefien Boogert, Merijn Hilhorst, Lotta Tavernier and Anna Hin. Their goal is to reach the final. Nereus is the favourite, with Olympic champions Karolien Florijn and Veronique Meester on board. Delft's Laga is another top boat.

Nereus is not only under scrutiny this year because of the sport. The association came under fire after an action that got out of hand in which a hundred-year-old historical archive material from Njord was destroyed. Both associations were banned from the Varsity as were the 'victims', which caused a lot of controversy. But, after much protest, the disciplinary committee withdrew that decision. There will be more security this year to maintain peace.

Generation after generation
This year, I will be standing on the sidelines again, beer in hand. My parents will be there too, feeling nostalgic as I have an eye for the present. After all, we will not be cheering for the same Old Four but rather for the same tradition.

Phine and her mother at Varsity in 2024. Photo: family archive

The Utrecht teams
The Triton men: Eli Brouwer (Master's in Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology), Pieter van Veen (Master's student in Notarial Law), Bart Lauwers (Master's student in Pharmacy) and Timo van Eijden (graduated from HU) will start in the Old Four. The coxswain is Hanne Gielliet (who studied Liberal Arts and Sciences last year).

This year, the Triton's Old Four in the Women's category consists of Josefien Boogert (Physiotherapy at HU), Merijn Hilhorst (Master's student in Earth, Surface and Water), Lotta Tavernier (Veterinary Medicine and Medicine) and Anna Hin (Physiotherapy at HU).

Orca, the other student rowing club from Utrecht, is also participating in the Varsity. Their Women's Four won last year and hopes to repeat that feat this year. The team was recently named the best sports team of Utrecht in 2024.

Three of the four winning women will be back: Vera Versteegh (Master's in Cancer, Stem Cells and Developmental Biology), Lydia Knevel (Master's in Earth, Life and Climate) and Trijntje van der Pijl (Medicine). Rosemary Jansen (Educational Sciences) completes the quartet.

The male Old Four consists of Floris van Hall (Administration & Organizational Science), Thijn Renssen, Joeri Geelhoed and Vincent Lagerwerf (all Finance & Control at the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences). The helmswoman is Marit Eradus (Law).