Student - June 10, 2010

Argonauts win Dutch rowing title

For the first time in years an all-Argonauts crew won the Dutch Rowing Championships on Saturday 5 June. Jochem van der Hout and Lenny de Jaeger, battled towards victory on the Bosbaan in Amsterdam, spurred on by cox Vera van der Velpen.

From left to right: Lenny de Jaeger, Jochem van der Hout and Vera van der Velpen.
The Argo-boat hadn't been tipped as a likely winner for the men's double plus cox. The favourites were two men rowing in the lightweight selection and a pair rowing a completely new boat. 'But we pulled it off with our oldie', Van der Hout jokes. The Economics and Policy MSc student is delighted with the title. 'We were able to row really fast. The race felt spot on: we were able to start our sprint in the second kilometer, which is usually too hard. Those other guys may have been better technically, but we were stronger.'
Van der Hout is particularly pleased, moreover, that his back held out. 'I've had to take it easy this past year because of a back injury. But if my back continues like this I'd like to try to get into the Dutch selection for the Dutch Indoor Rowing Championships in December.'
His fellow club member, Jolmer van der Sluis, also won a prize this weekend. On Saturday he won the race for the lightweight men's coxless four in a combo-boat, and on Sunday he came first in the lightweight men's eight. That brings him to a total of three Dutch Championships titles. At the end of April Van der Sluis also won the battle with an Orca rowing boat in the lightweight men's coxless pair.