WOODEN Hundreds of spectators filled the edges of the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal this afternoon. Members of the student rowing clubs in the Netherlands competed against each other in the 138th Varsity on the water near the Schalkwijk bridge between Houten and Schalkwijk.
Chris Reinders
The final part of the long series of competitions was traditionally the ‘race of the Old Fours’. In the king’s number of the Varsity, the top four rowers from each club compete in a three-kilometer race. Nereus took the win and finished with more than a boat length ahead of the number two, the Delftse Laga. Triton from Utrecht was fourth, but was later moved back to last place.
A reprise of three years ago was not possible for the Utrechters. In 2019, after fifty-two years of ‘drought’, Triton took the win in a blistering final phase and plunged Utrecht into massive revelry. After the cancellation in 2020 due to the corona measures, ‘the blue ones’ finished in third place last year. The Utrecht foursome Eli Brouwer, Pieter van Veen, Jacob van de Kerkhof, Casper van der Steen, assisted by mate Ellen Bijkerk and coach Coen Eggenkamp on the side, were not eligible for the places of honor this afternoon.
The final of the ‘ladies four’ was also a prey for Nereus. The rowing club in Amsterdam thus became the big winner of this edition of the Varsity.
