The Varsity is a rowing regatta on the Amsterdam–Rhine Canal in Houten, Netherlands. The Varsity is the oldest and most prestigious student rowing regatta in the Netherlands.
The Varsity one of the few student-only rowing races and certainly the only one were quality rowing is very important. The Varsity is a rowing race with an atmosphere much different then other races. Traditional elements are combined with new technology and rowing philosophy. While rowing crews defend the honour of the club on the water, the spectators on the levee are fighting and brawling just as hard.
Open for all traditional race rowing classes like the 4+, 4-, 2-, Skiff. But there are also two races in traditional clinker-built boats (overnaads). These traditional races are often rowed by less-competitive rowers who can't participate in the normal races. The main event is the Oude Vier (Varsity Four) which is rowed in a 4+. The best rowers of each student rowing club participate in this event. This means that almost all top rowers of the Netherlands are participating.
Most of the traditions in student rowing in the Netherlands evolve around the Varsity. A common toast within clubs is: "(our club) wins the Varsity!" Clubs who didn't win the Varsity in a long time even write songs about it.
The winner of the race is supposed to give a 'kroegjool'. A big party in celebration of the victory. All members of the other participating clubs are invited and drink beer for free. Often around 10.000 litres of beer is consumed in one night.
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Until early 2000s club members of Laga, Aegir, Skadi and Njord would fight earlier in the rowing season for the supposedly victory on the Varsity. During this 'kipvechten'(Chicken fighting) a (frozen) chicken would hang from the ceiling in Njord's boathouse. The club who retrieved the chicken would win the Varsity. Often the coxswain would be thrown into the air to catch the chicken. This tradition ended after the number of broken bones and general damage to Njord's boathouse went sky high.
The biggest student rowing club in the Netherlands, Nereus, is also leading in number of victories. The three founding clubs, Njord, Laga and Triton follow. The ranking in varsity victories is a bit misleading for contemporary achievements. Triton didn't win a varsity since 1967 and Njord didn't win since 1988. Skadi won 5 consecutive races in 2006-2010. The non-KNSRB clubs, Orca, Okeanos and Euros participate since 1973. Other non-KNSRB clubs are yet to achieve victory. Two races from 1915 and 1916 don't count towards the total score because of the abnormal World War I situation.
(*) Caused by the dead-heat of 1960
The history of the varsity starts with the foundation of the first student rowing club in the Netherlands. On 5 June 1874 the K.S.R.V. "Njord" was originated on behalf of J.W.T. Cohen Stuart. Almost immediately after the founding Prince Henry of the Netherlands became the patron of Njord. Soon other rowing clubs started to emerge. In Delft DSRV Laga was founded in 1876. The Groningen student club G.S.R. Aegir originated in 1878. All student rowing clubs of this period started as 'subdivisions' of bigger and older student corporations like Vindicat atque Polit. This meant all club were 'born' with a natural rivalry.
In England the rowing sport was at that time more developed and already had a tradition of rowing races between universities. The best example is The Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge. This provided the inspiration for a similar race in the Netherlands. In 1878 the Leiden Student Rowing Club KSRV Njord challenged the rowing club of Delft, DSRV Laga. Laga accepted the challenge and raced against Njord on 2 July 1878 on the 'Galgewater' (Gallows water) in Leiden. The race contained two turning-buoys and had a total length of 3200 meter. Laga won with a margin of 12 seconds. The rematch was two years later, and, with a few exceptions, has been an annual event since.
Members of G.S.R. Aegir, dispute the official history and claim that both clubs decided to race in celebration of the founding of Aegir in February 1878.
A third competitor arrived in 1882, USR Triton from Utrecht. This would become a key point in the history of the Varsity and student rowing in the Netherlands. The three clubs decided to form the NSRB (Royal Dutch Student Rowing Association). This body would be responsible for the organisation of the Varsity. The first official Varsity was in 1883. The race was for the first time on neutral terrain and the equivalent of a golden medal, a 'gouden blik' became the price for the winner. In this race the turning-buoy emerged as a match-maker since Laga and Triton collied at the turn and never finished the race.
In the following years the race grew in size. More boat classes, more competitors and more spectators. The race moved to Haarlem in 1885 after residents complained about the disturbance of the Sunday rest. In Haarlem was it possible to race without buoy. Rowing crews started to train on a daily basis for the race. This was unusual at the time and thus resulted in crews dominating for years. The race moved again in 1902 to the Zweth, a brook between Delft and Rotterdam. Because of the small waterway only two crews could compete together. Qualifications for the final were necessary until another move in 1914 to the North Sea Canal.
40 years after the founding of G.S.R. Aegir they participated for the first time in the Varsity of 1918 and thus could join the KNSRB. The long distance from Groningen to the other clubs made participation impossible before. With a lead of six boat lengths, they won their first varsity. It would take another 38 years for the second victory.
The Varsity didn't cause much national attention until 1930, when two drunken varsity spectators from Laga decided to infiltrate the Royal Palace of Amsterdam. <[4]> This and other incidents even led to questions in the House of Representatives.
In 1937 moved the race tot the Bosbaan in Amstelveen. Within the rowing world this caused much uproar. The Bosbaan was only 2000 meters long, too short for the traditional 3000 meters. Also was the track a little too narrow for the 5 competing boats. Varsity winners handed in their prize and honorary members of the NSRB resigned in the dispute over the new location. Simultaneously it was debated to row the main event in the coxless four instead of the coxed four.
After Laga openly asked for a new location, Triton proposed Jutphaas as a new location for the race. Triton swore that it would organise the varsity on behalf of the NSRB as long as the race was rowed in (the neighbourhood of) Utrecht. An oath they still keep.
Under German occupation, the Varsity was a forbidden event. However, Triton was allowed to organise the Varsity in 1941 as part of their lustrum. Later that year, after the german occupant prohibited the membership for Jewish students, all student rowing clubs (and all other student clubs) closed their gates. Only the executive board remained member to protect boats and property.
A mock Varsity took play in a Japanese interment camp. Representatives of the student rowing clubs created a game were dice decided the outcome. With cardboard they created a 5 meter track, boats, finish tower and they even painted the boats in the correct colours. Members and supporters of the student rowing clubs created the traditional outfit and practised the anthem of the club. Representatives of each pre-war NSRB club (Njord, Laga, Triton, Nereus, Aegir) played for the main event, while Argo, a student rowing club not yet member of the NSRB, only could participate in the skiff, double four and in the eight. Triton won the race after an exciting battle against Laga.
Nereus, Aegir and Argo lost their boathouses and most of the boats in the war. But everyone (including Argo for the first time) competed in the 1946 Varsity. Triton won, but most important was that the NSRB received the honorary title 'Koninklijke' (Royal). Since then it's the KNSRB.
After the war the importance of the Varsity grew a lot. The NOS has broadcast the race on television since the 1950's.
In the 1960s the role of the parent societies, the corporations, started to change. This affected the rowing clubs heavily. Stand alone rowing clubs were founded, without a corporation as a parent. These rowing clubs could not join the KNSRB, but, as their number grew, needed representation. Thus, on the initiative of the KNSRB, all student rowing clubs started the NSRF (Dutch Student Row Federation). KNSRB clubs became a member of both organisations. After much debate between KNSRB clubs, it was decided in 1973 that all NSRF clubs should be able to participate in the Varsity. This led to major changes in the race. For the first time since 1914, qualifications were necessary.
The big culture difference between the new and the old clubs proved to be a difficult challenge for both worlds. New clubs did not like the distance and different race rules. They also objected to the traditional fighting and brawling between KNSRB club members. The KNSRB members showed their disappointment by wearing black belts during the first 'joined' Varsity. Since then the relationship normalised, although many KNSRB members misbehaved when a non-KNSRB club, Orca, won the varsity in 1980.
The Varsity moved north along the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal in 1971. Since then the race stayed in Houten except for a one year return to the bosbaan.
