Two Triton rowers headed to the Olympic Games

Eli Brouwer, a Master's student in Bioinformatics & Biocomplexity at UU, is a small sensation. After winning Varsity together with Triton last year, he joined the Dutch national team in the Autumn and now has secured a spot in the Olympic Games. 

Brouwer heard that he was going to Paris shortly after the new year, during a conversation with the national team coach. He is currently the first choice for a spot in the so-called Coxless Four. "It was a big surprise, indeed. I haven't been part of the rowing association very long, so I had to compete against more experienced rowers."

For Jacob van de Kerkhof, the placement was not unexpected. The PhD candidate at Utrecht Law School has been a familiar face among the Dutch rowing elite for many years.

Van de Kerkhof conducts research on freedom of speech on social media, but his main focus in the next few months will be his sporting career, as he is part of the Holland Eight, a team that finished second at the World Championships in Belgrade in September and one of the contenders for the Olympic title.

A graduate of both University College Roosevelt and Utrecht Law School, he brought Triton its first Varsity victory in 52 years in 2019 (article in Dutch, Ed). In 2021, Van de Kerkhof was a reserve at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

A third Triton member who is part of the federation selection, the Utrecht law student Pieter van Veen, is provisionally a reserve for one of the Olympic boats.

This time, no women from Utrecht have been selected for the Olympics. A worthy successor to Inge Janssen, the Olympic medalist from the rowing association Orca, is still awaited. 2008 was the last time that there was no female rower from Utrecht at the Olympic Games.