After ten days of rowing in a glass greenhouse at Eindhoven station, students from Rowing Association Thêta have a world record. The goal of raising fifty thousand euros for the Hartstichting was also reached at the last minute. The students immediately celebrate that on Friday evening with a party, despite the heavy legs and the disrupted sleep rhythms. “Then we go in hibernation.”
“They were fantastic days,” says Fabian Lucas-Luijckx, one of the organizers of the world record attempt. The students rowed for ten days, 24 hours a day. More than two hundred students alternated every half hour.
“Many travelers at the station came to encourage us, just like family members, friends and conductors of the Dutch Railways. A local resident even came to see how many kilometers we had on every day.”
“At six o’clock we still missed three thousand euros.”
Thanks to all spectators, the students achieved the target amount of fifty thousand euros, although that was still exciting. “At six o’clock we still missed three thousand euros,” says Maud Bolck, who rowed several times.
“The university has donated a thousand euros in the last hours. We also asked many spectators and friends to donate. In the end we were able to hand over a check of 51 thousand euros at eight o’clock to the Hartstichting,” says Fabian.
Money that can be used well for research into cardiovascular disease, something that students can also have to deal with. This week it will be four years ago that Claudia van Lieshout died. She was a member of the rowing association and died totally unexpectedly from a cardiac arrest in her sleep.
“We took a moment to think about Claudia,” says Maud. “A few former teammates of her became very emotional.”
“Standed on the death of Claudia.”
“It’s great that we were able to raise money with the whole club and have stood still with her. I had contact with her mother today and he was very happy with that,” says Fabian.
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The students from Eindhoven have broken the world record of the St Peter’s College Boat Club of the University of Oxford, which had previously rowed for ten days.
To be sure that the world record was broken, the students of Thêta rowed ten days and seven hours, also in the middle of the night. “The nights were very nice. I rowed the last night for an hour,” says Maud.
“Sleep rhythm out of balance.”
They rowed through and through in a closed station hall. “My sleep rhythm is a bit out of balance. Everyone likes that the world record has been achieved and that it is now also over,” says Fabian.
“Tonight we can immediately celebrate with a student party. This weekend we are going to hibernate, I think,” he laughs.
