Twilight lectures makes top sport for students impossible

The chairman of Argo explains why

Mathijs Peters is chairman of Argo and with 7 other students, he works full-time to improve the rowing sport for students in Wageningen.

The new schedule proposal is a nasty issue for many students and organisations. Instead, the WUR should look for a structural solution with extra education facilities and less empty rooms. The schedule shouldn’t hinder additional student activities. During this week students and organisations explain why.

In the third report, Matthijs Peters, the chairman of the student rowing association Argo, tells in a storytelling way about the impact of twilight lectures on their future achievements.

Allow me to take you to the Olympics past summer. There I will show you the highest achievable goal in the world of sports, an Olympic medal. Not one, but three! Bronze, silver and as the final flourish the gold medal of the women’s lightweight double. Of course, I am talking about rowing. A sport that is practised widely among the students in Wageningen (W.S.R. Argo has a member count of almost 650). Any idea how much those ladies have had to train before they could hold up the gold medal to their supporters? Probably not…

Rowing is a sport that can take you to the top in only a few years.

During and after twilight it is not allowed to row. Teams are very tied to the duration of sun hours.

The golden ladies mentioned above are students that row in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The only way to get to the top is to train, literally every day (sometimes two times a day). At Argo, we also have students that train every day for the ultimate goal of Olympic gold. We have rowers who compete at the top international games, rowers who participate at European or World championships dreaming of what they can achieve and represent Wageningen at these events. Unfortunately, those dreams will never become a reality if it is up to the University.

I would like to show you the essential requirements of a rowing training.

Crew (8 or 4 persons)
Coaches ( 2 or 3 persons)
Daylight
At least 2 hours of training time

With the introduction of the dusk lectures, these four essential requirements don’t meet for a training. Training after the lectures? It’s dark outside. Train before the lectures? It’s also dark outside. Not everybody has lectures until 19:00, but the chances are that at least one of the rowers has. With seven persons a boat cannot be filled, and there can be no training. No coaches? No training.

**The colours of Argo are green and white. Argo is one of the largest associations in Wageningen.**

Rowing is a big sport and is growing in popularity among students. Rowing is a chance to represent Wageningen University to the outside world. Unfortunately, Wageningen University will not be participating if the new regulations are implemented simply because there can be no more training and an Olympic medal will always be an unachievable dream.