While the rowing season came to a close a couple weeks ago for most of Holland’s rowers, a handful of Dutch crews extended their season with a trip to Portugal for the European Universities Games (EUG). Two of those crews who made the journey to the ancient university city of Coimbra are members of the student rowing club DRV Euros in Enschede.
The weather took an uncharacteristic turn from sunny to somber at the rowing championships just outside of Coimbra as rain drizzled from the grey skies above. Not that the Dutch rowers minded; if anything, it must have given them a sort-of home field advantage. Crews representing universities from the Netherlands collected 10 medals in Portugal, and the rowers from Enschede played a big role in the Dutch dominance.
Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls
Not until the late afternoon on Wednesday was it that the first race featuring students from Twente took place. The event was the A-final of the Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls, and Hannah Boogert and Lisanne de Weert were up against university students from Porto, Wurzburg, Oxford, and nearby Nijmegen. From the moment the boats could be spotted in the distance, it was obvious this race would be a close one. In the end Boogert and De Weert finished in third place just behind Wurzburg and Porto, with the difference between 1st and 3rd being just three seconds.
‘We finished the season as second in the Dutch national rankings, which on its own was already an amazing accomplishment, and now we’re here, third in all of Europe,’ said Coach Thijs Rakels following the race. ‘It’s something we never expected so I’m very proud.’
Boogert and De Weert echoed the words of their proud coach.
‘We already thought it was bizarre that we even qualified for the EUG,’ said Boogert as she walked from the podium. ‘When we got here we saw that the other rowers are also really good so I’m proud of their third-place finish,’ De Weert added.
Women's Four
Just after Boogert and De Weert had collected their bronze medals it was time for the next race—the Women’s Four. The ladies from Twente (Marjolein Scheffers, Mayke Doorn, Anne-Lynn Paalvast, and Evi Nijhof) had familiar foes awaiting them as two crews from Delft had also qualified for the A-final. It was a neck and neck race between Twente and Proteus, one of the crews rowing under the TU Delft name, but ultimately it would be Proteus that would pull away and take first place by a margin of just under three seconds.
‘Of course we would have loved to have taken first place, but when you put everything you have into a race like we did today, then that’s already something to be really proud of,’ said Evi Nijhof, who rows from the stern of the boat. ‘We’ve trained literally every day of the year except Christmas and now we’re in Coimbra with a silver medal, and that just feels really good.’
While the women from Twente were racing, former coach Daniël ’t Hooft was matching the same pace on his bike alongside the waterfront urging the rowers towards the finish line. t’ Hooft had promised his former rowers that if they qualified for EUG, he would ride his bike all the way from the Netherlands to Coimbra just to be at the race. He did just that, and couldn’t be more happy to be there to see the EUROS girls win silver.
‘I mean it would have been a bit sour if I had come all the way here to see them lose, right?’ ’t Hooft joked. ‘I don’t have much of a voice left after that race. They raced fantastically and it’s just great to see them close out the year like this.’
