The Ghent Student Regatta was a boat race for students in April 2008 at Portus Ganda in the heart of historical

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

in Dutch-speaking

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. It was an initiative of Paul Van Cauwenberge, the Rector of Ghent University, in collaboration with Ghent Students Rowing, the sports department of the City and Patrick Rombaut, Umpiring Commission Chairman of the

Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Aviron World Rowing, also known as the World Rowing Federation (former abbreviation FISA; french: Fédération internationale des sociétés d'aviron), is the international governing body for rowing. Its current president is Jean-Christophe Rolland who ...

(FISA). Rombaut started the Sprint idea at this location back in September 2007, where his regatta team of the annual May regatta of Ghent organised a race between the rowing teams of

Christ Church Boat Club Christ Church Boat Club is a rowing club for members of Christ Church, Oxford and Kellogg College, Oxford. It is based on the Isis at Boathouse Island, Christ Church Meadow, Oxford. History The club is reputedly one of the oldest rowing clubs i ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Henley Rowing Club Henley Rowing Club is a rowing (sport), rowing club on the River Thames based on Wargrave Road, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. History The club was founded in 1839. The club were the Victor Ludorum champions at the 2014 British Rowing Junior Ch ...

, a junior team of K.R. Club Gent/

Royal Club Nautique de Gand (English: ''Royal Rowing Club of Ghent'' / French: ''Royal Club Nautique de Gand'') is a rowing club from the Belgian city of Ghent founded in 1871. The association is located at the Ghent urban Watersportbaan rowing course. It has an extensiv ...

and his own KR Sport Gent 1883 eight. The race was won in 1907 with the colours and blades of K.R.Sport Gent (Royal Sport Nautique de Gand = French name at that time) and they won again in 2007 in this 200m sprint. The idea came from the Mercedes Benz FISA World Rowing Sprints at Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park in London back in 2002. It was also a trial to bring rowing into city centers again. There are plans to continue with the enlarged version of the event every two or three years, in the same location.

Tradition

British, Anglo-Saxon, and Dutch students have also developed a rowing tradition. The Temple Challenge Cup and the

Boat Race Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

have been established as examples.

Two races

The tournament was opened by an International sprint race in teams of eight by the University of Leiden,

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

, and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

and eight rowers from Ghent made out of two of the three local ''open'' associations. A mixed race. The National race in four, done by Sport Nautique Universitaire de Bruxelles, Limburg Association (

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ; la, Hasseletum, Hasselatum) is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital and largest city of the province of Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is known for its former branding as "the city of taste", as well as its ...

, near

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

) and Ghent Students Rowing, was previously a Belgian version of the Dutch so called ''Non-fanatical Competition — and Regional'' students rowing category, organised by their NSRF and the Nationaal Overleg Orgaan Competitieroeien (NOOC).

References

De Standaard ''De Standaard'' (meaning ''The Standard'' in English) is a Flemish daily newspaper published in Belgium by Mediahuis (formerly Corelio and VUM). It was traditionally a Christian-Democratic paper, associated with the Christian-Democratic and F ...

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About the Portus Ganda historical site
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Rector and option courses Rowing at UGent
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Roeien in België - Patrick Rombaut
{{Coord, 51, 03, 16, N, 3, 44, 02, E, source:nlwiki_region:BE_type:landmark, display=title College sports rivalries Ghent University Rowing competitions in Belgium

Tradition

Two races

See also

References

External links