{"id":159094,"date":"2023-09-27T15:08:38","date_gmt":"2023-09-27T13:08:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=159094"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:58","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:58","slug":"skadi-remembers-niels-by-christening-a-boat-with-jenever-and-rainwater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2023\/09\/27\/skadi-remembers-niels-by-christening-a-boat-with-jenever-and-rainwater\/","title":{"rendered":"Skadi remembers Niels by christening a boat with jenever and rainwater"},"content":{"rendered":"

A year after the death of board member Niels van Rooijen, the rowing club, Skadi, has named a boat after him. It is a boat for eight rowers, the most prestigious category in rowing. Last Friday, the boat was christened in the presence of Niels\u2019 family.<\/p>\n

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Niels's sister and mother got to christen the boat with Ketel 1 Jenever.<\/span><\/p>

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For Skadi, the christening of a boat always goes hand in hand with the house drink, Ketel1 jenever. The honour of christening the boat went to Niels\u2019 mother and sister. They poured the contents of the bottle over the narrow, yellow boat, while Niels\u2019 friends, family and fellow rowing club members looked on from under their umbrellas. Beside the club\u2019s base on Noorderkanaalweg, Niels\u2019 old team then stepped into the boat. They were given the honour of rowing the first metres in the new boat.<\/p>\n

Boats last a long time at the Skadi rowing club. The boathouse still has a number of boats from the late sixties, which are still in use. The honour of having a boat named after them often goes to winners or coaches, but sometimes the christening is in someone\u2019s memory. In this case, it was in honour of Niels, who, in 2021-2022, was a member of the board of the club.<\/p>\n

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Niels's teammates got to do the honours: they were the ones to row the first meters after de christening.<\/span><\/p>

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Among other things, this story deals with suicide. Are you having suicidal thoughts, call 113 Suicide Prevention anonymously on 113 or 0800-0113 (free of charge), or talk with someone via the chat facility on the 113.nl<\/a> website. Staff are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.<\/p>\n

Would you just like to talk to someone? You can also do that at the university. Drop by\u00a0The Living Room<\/a>\u00a0or make an\u00a0appointment with a student psychologist<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n

It was meant to be<\/h2>

\u201cIt was meant to be\u201d, says Annemijn de Kleer, president of Skadi, during an interview prior to the christening. The club wanted to name a boat after him in September, but you do not always know in advance which boat will come in when. It looked as though it was going to be a four-seater. \u201cWhen we heard that this eight was going to come in earlier\u2026 well, it was just perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Niels rowed in an eight in his first year, and his team was the fastest in that year as well. He was also the coach of an eight team. \u201cThe eight commands respect in rowing\u201d, says Gilles Luyendijk, former team member and housemate of Niels. \u201cWith that many rowers, you really move fast. The competitions are spectacular with so many people at the start. It\u2019s about as cool as it gets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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Read more<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t