Orca Rowing Club
Encyclopedia
Algemene Utrechtse Studenten Roeivereniging ORCA (A.U.S.R. ORCA) 
Club ORCA, The Netherlands, located on the Merwedekanaal at Utrecht (city)
, was founded on 24 October 1970 out of the fusion of two older Utrecht student rowing clubs, Charon and Batavier. During a general member meeting the establishment of ORCA became a fact. The common aim of the newly founded rowing club became reaching the national and international top.
These ambitions led to results very quickly. In 1973 Orca rowers rowed a national record.
Hereafter the association starts to grow more and more towards its goal: nearly every year Orca rowers conquer places in the Dutch rowing equipe for the championships or even for the Olympic games. During the Summer Olympics of 1976
in Montreal
Orca rower Hette Borias rowed in the Dutch women's coxed four.
In 1980, a silver medal is won on the world championships. In 1981, the Dutch equipe consist of 16 rowers, ten of which are ORCA rowers, which resulted in another silver medal.
A very important victory in 1980 was the coxed four at The Varsity
, the most important student rowing event in the Netherlands. It was a great sensation that Orca's coxed four, non-members of a student corporation
rowing club, won this race on the waters of the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal
. Since then Orca won this event repeatedly for a total of 5 times.
In the meantime Orca increased to a level of approximately 400 members and the accommodation, which was shared with two other rowing clubs, became overpopulated. In 1978 a new boathouse was built to house the three Utrecht rowing clubs, A.U.S.R. Orca (non-member of students' corps), U.S.R. Triton (subsidiary of a student corporation
) and U.R.V. Viking (amateur rowing club). This new boat house contained one clubroom to be shared by Orca and Triton and one clubroom for Viking. Orca and Triton had to share because at the time it was assumed by the local authorities that sooner or later Orca and Triton would fuse into one rowing club. This proved to be a wrong assumption and in 1995 alterations to the boat house were carried out, creating a new clubroom. This alteration made it possible for the two student rowing clubs to go their own way (apart from the changing rooms, which are still shared by the two rowing clubs.)
Orca continued growing and counts almost 600 members around 1990. It was decided that Orca had become too large and the club reduced to its current level of approximately 550 members.
History
The General Utrecht Student RowingWatercraft rowing
Watercraft rowing is the act of propelling a boat using the motion of oars in the water. The difference between paddling and rowing is that with rowing the oars have a mechanical connection with the boat whereas with paddling the paddles are hand-held with no mechanical connection.This article...
Club ORCA, The Netherlands, located on the Merwedekanaal at Utrecht (city)
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
, was founded on 24 October 1970 out of the fusion of two older Utrecht student rowing clubs, Charon and Batavier. During a general member meeting the establishment of ORCA became a fact. The common aim of the newly founded rowing club became reaching the national and international top.
These ambitions led to results very quickly. In 1973 Orca rowers rowed a national record.
Hereafter the association starts to grow more and more towards its goal: nearly every year Orca rowers conquer places in the Dutch rowing equipe for the championships or even for the Olympic games. During the Summer Olympics of 1976
1976 Summer Olympics
The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1976. Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, over the bids of Moscow and...
in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
Orca rower Hette Borias rowed in the Dutch women's coxed four.
In 1980, a silver medal is won on the world championships. In 1981, the Dutch equipe consist of 16 rowers, ten of which are ORCA rowers, which resulted in another silver medal.
A very important victory in 1980 was the coxed four at The Varsity
Varsity (rowing regatta)
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 most important student rowing event in the Netherlands. It was a great sensation that Orca's coxed four, non-members of a student corporation
Corporation (university)
Corporation refers to different kinds of student organizations worldwide.Generally, universities in the various European countries have student organizations called corporations. The name is derived from the Latin corporatio meaning a body or group...
rowing club, won this race on the waters of the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal
Amsterdam-Rhine Canal
The Amsterdam–Rhine Canal or Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal is a canal in the Netherlands that was built to connect the port city of Amsterdam to the main shipping artery of the Rhine...
. Since then Orca won this event repeatedly for a total of 5 times.
In the meantime Orca increased to a level of approximately 400 members and the accommodation, which was shared with two other rowing clubs, became overpopulated. In 1978 a new boathouse was built to house the three Utrecht rowing clubs, A.U.S.R. Orca (non-member of students' corps), U.S.R. Triton (subsidiary of a student corporation
Corporation (university)
Corporation refers to different kinds of student organizations worldwide.Generally, universities in the various European countries have student organizations called corporations. The name is derived from the Latin corporatio meaning a body or group...
) and U.R.V. Viking (amateur rowing club). This new boat house contained one clubroom to be shared by Orca and Triton and one clubroom for Viking. Orca and Triton had to share because at the time it was assumed by the local authorities that sooner or later Orca and Triton would fuse into one rowing club. This proved to be a wrong assumption and in 1995 alterations to the boat house were carried out, creating a new clubroom. This alteration made it possible for the two student rowing clubs to go their own way (apart from the changing rooms, which are still shared by the two rowing clubs.)
Orca continued growing and counts almost 600 members around 1990. It was decided that Orca had become too large and the club reduced to its current level of approximately 550 members.
International Orca rowers (1994-2007)
- Victor Bastiaansen
- Dienke Bos
- Pieter Bottema (World Champion LM8+ 2007)
- Danielle Broekhuizen
- Rutger Bruil
- Geert CirkelGeert CirkelGeert Cirkel is a rower from the Netherlands.Cirkel started rowing in 1994. He mainly rows in the fours and occasionally participates in the quadruple sculls. In the quadruple sculls he won a silver medal at the 2001 World Championships in Luzern...
(World Cup M4- 2007) - Bastiaan Diepenbroek
- Meike van Driel
- Annemieke Eijgelaar
- Renske van der Gaag
- Frank de Graaf
- Sjoerd HamburgerSjoerd HamburgerSjoerd Hamburger is a rower from the Netherlands, who competes in the single scull.Hamburger was born and raised in Oldeberkoop where he played korfball and was involved in training for triathlons. When he was 18 he moved to Utrecht to study and started rowing in an Eight at the Orca Rowing Club...
(World Champion BM1x 2005) - Roy van Kessel
- Susan van Kuijeren
- Joeri van Leeuwen
- Elien Meijer (World Champion W4- 1994)
- Jerker Menninga
- Peter van der Noort
- Merijn van Oijen (cox)
- Jan Willem van der Paauw
- Ysbrand Schreuder
- Paul Serail (cox)
- Reina Sikkema
- Dagne Swarte
- Marieke Westerhof
- Bert Westerveld
See also
- A.R.S.R. Skadi
- Nereus Rowing ClubNereus Rowing ClubThe Amsterdam Student Rowing club Nereus, was founded in 1885 by Mr. J. Schölvinck as a subsidiary organization of The Corps, an Amsterdam student fraternity...
- Proteus-eretesProteus-eretesDSR Proteus-Eretes is the largest student rowing club in Delft, with more than 600 members...
- Ghent Students RowingGhent Students RowingGhent Students Rowing is a rowing club for students in the Belgian city of Ghent.This association is the first official student rowing club of Flanders...
External links
- A.U.S.R. Orca website
- NLroei website The Dutch website for rowing, with many pictures of national and international rowing events!!
- KNRB Royal Dutch Rowing Association
- Sjoerd Hamburger Official website of Sjoerd Hamburger
- U.S.R. Triton website
- U.R.V. Viking website
- World Rowing website The official website of the World Rowing Association (FISA)