Last Sunday, the rowers of Skadi were knocked off their throne at the Varsity, the premier annual rowing regatta for students on the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal. The Rotterdam crew were the runners up in Houten, coming in 11 seconds behind Amsterdam’s Nereus – in its record 41st Varsity victory.
Proud
As the titleholders in the ‘Oude Vier’ – the Varsity’s main event – Skadi had very high expectations for the regatta, according to President Falko Michielse. “Of course, we travelled to Houten with one goal in mind, and that was to bring home the gold. In that sense, it is a pity that we didn’t win. But our ‘Old Four’ put up a good fight. We can be proud of them.”
Get their own back next year
Until two kilometres before the finish line, the Skadi four still coursed half a boat’s length ahead of Nereus’s crew. However, in the final kilometre they started to run out of steam. The rowers plan to get their own back in 2017: “Next year will be an important year, and we will once again be sending our very best rowers to Houten.”
