Laga women row to victory in the 141st Varsity

After 28 years of manifesting with the slogan ‘Laga wins the Varsity!’, D.S.R.V. Laga finally celebrated victory on Sunday at the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal in Houten. The honor went to the women, as the Laga men did not make it to the final. The Varsity is regarded as the most prestigious rowing race in the Netherlands. This was the first time the corporate student rowing association won with the women’s boat.

The powerful strokes from Tessa Dullemans, Willemijn Mulder, Lotte Jansen, and Laila Youssifou quickly propelled the Laga boat to the finish line. The boat was the favorite, with Dullemans and Youssifou having already won silver medals for the Netherlands in the double four at last summer’s Olympic Games in Paris. Mulder had been part of the team as a reserve.

Significant lead

It was not close: with a time of 07:16.63, the Laga team had a comfortable lead of 14 seconds over the Skøll boat, which finished second. More than a hundred Laga members jumped into the canal – some in their underwear or just wearing their ties – to congratulate the rowers.

In the men’s “Oude Vier” (Old Four), still the main event of the Varsity in 2024, the Amsterdam rowing club A.A.S.R. Skøll won for the first time ever. On board were Jan van der Bij, Olav Molenaar, Wibout Rustenburg, Mats van Sabben, and coxswain Lotte Vedel. The Proteus men finished in third place.