‘Release’ followed the win, tells 29-year-old Lisa Scheenaard. “Having come second on four occasions at the National Championship (NC) I was itching to win. I knew I could; I knew I had the speed. Recently my times have been close to the Dutch record. Last year I missed it by a whisker and I wasn't sharp enough.”

Scheenaard, who is studying building physics at TU/e, has put her studies on the back burner for the time being. “I did sit a couple of exams, but rowing is my priority at the moment.” Although she trains mostly in Amsterdam, you can regularly see her rowing in Eindhoven. “Now that Sander and I are rowing in the elite class, it's nice that we've been able to boost Thêta's performances across the board.”

With more than forty rowers, Eindhoven's student rowing association was well represented at the Aegon National Championship for 'Small Boats', held in association with Hollandia Roeiwedstrijden, at which teams competed for the national titles in the skiff and coxless pairs.

Bronze

Sander de Graaf (22), Master's student of Mechanical Engineering at TU/e, took bronze with rowing partner Vincent Klaassens – a student at TU Delft. They were competing in the ‘men's coxless pair’, i.e. without a cox to steer them. “There was only four tenths of a second in it. We very nearly took the silver,” tells Sander. The pair started rowing together two months ago and that proved a golden (and in this case a bronze) decision. “We are both pretty big and strong, and that seemed like a good combination to us. And indeed it turned out to be. I was ill in the week before the NC and I had exams. Vincent too had an exam. Nonetheless, the time trial on Friday went well and we went straight through to the semi-finals.” In June, like Lisa Scheenaard, the pair will be taking part in the World Cup in Belgrade.