Nereus and Laga win Varsity

It was a thrilling men’s final on a windy Amsterdam-Rhine Canal. The Delft-based club Laga narrowly defeated Amsterdam’s Nereus in their first victory in the men’s category since 1997.

In the women’s event, however, Nereus managed to win. The Amsterdam women stayed well ahead of the competition. Fans of the winning boats were not deterred by the freezing water and jumped into the canal to celebrate the victory. 

Bad luck
After several years of good results, the Utrecht-based rowers had little reason to celebrate this time around. The four boats from Triton and Orca all failed to progress beyond the heats.

In the absence of the Olympic rowers, who were following their own programme with the national teams, the Triton men lined up at the start with four rowers making their Varsity debut. Mees Kielhorn (HU), Edward den Beer Poortugael, Toon Clabbers (HU), Bart Berbers (HU) and coxswain Hanne Gielliet (UU Master’s student in Psychology) were unlucky that the three clubs that would go on to take the top three places in the final were all in the same preliminary heat as Triton. Triton finished fourth.

The Orca men’s team were hoping to cause an upset in this Varsity, but the boat featuring Joeri Geelhoed (HU), Thijn Renssen (HU), Floris van Hal (UU student of Public Administration & Organisation Studies), Vincent Lagerwerf (Windesheim alumnus) and coxswain Marit Eradus (UU Master’s student of Law) failed to qualify for the final, just like Triton.

Eliminated
In the women’s race, Orca suffered the same fate as Triton's men. The two boats that took the top two spots in the final later that day, the Amsterdam-based clubs Nereus and Skøll, were both in Orca’s heat. Orca finished just behind them, which means that Sem Austermann (UU Life Sciences student), Vera Versteegh (UU Master’s student in Life Sciences), Lydia Knevel (UU Master’s student in Earth Sciences) and Rosemary Jansen (UU Educational Sciences student) were eliminated despite a fast time.

The Triton team, consisting of Lauren van Rijswijck (UU Master’s student in Life Sciences), Merijn Hilhorst (UU Master’s student in Earth Sciences), Lotte Tavernier (UU student in Medicine) and Anne Hin (HU), also finished third in their preliminary race.

You can watch the Varsity race through this link.