Last weekend, on July 3rd and July 4th we embarked on what we knew was going to be a promising regatta. Together with Pien, Guilhem, Rebecca, John, Josephine, and my mother we began our thrilling journey to the Bosbaan on Friday afternoon. After endless hours of de-riggering boats and labeling riggers, we found out our boats had safely made it to the Bosbaan (all thanks to Tom from Saurus). 

The Saturday morning was eventful, to say the least. It was the first day of what would be Guilhem, Rebecca, and Pien's first rowing regatta experience. There was definitely some stress, especially regarding the steering whilst racing. Thankfully, Guilhem broke the ice and raced with a fabulous average pace of 2:05 which gave him a spot in the top 5! Later on, that same afternoon Pien and I raced in the double. With an average pace of 1:56 we were able to win our heat (therefore getting two medals), and also managed to win the overall category (therefore also receiving a trophy). In the evening we went to celebrate at Julia's restaurant Le 4 Stagioni. We unexpectedly ended up meeting Jasper and Caroline there as well!

After this highly successful and competitive day, we had some high expectations for Sunday. I began the day by rowing in the M16 field. Here I also ended up winning the heat and the overall category with an average pace of 2:03. This meant that I got both a medal and a trophy from the one and only Maarten Hurkmans and Simon Van Dorp (Holland 8 rowers). I felt very very small whilst standing next to him since he is around 201 cm tall. A couple of hours later, Pien and Rebecca both raced against each other in the M18 field. Pien did amazingly well and was able to win her heat and the overall category with a breathtaking pace of 2:01. She then received her medal and trophy from the unmatchable Amos Keijser. Rebecca endeavored this race and finished in 5th place with a stable pace of 2:11. 

We then had to de-rigger all our boats and start making our way back to Maastricht. A bitter-sweet moment because we had 3 trophies and 4 medals that came home with us!

I would just like to thank everyone that joined us and made this weekend so special. To Koos for organizing this whole event. To my mom and Josephine for being volunteers. To John, because I genuinely do not know what we would have done without you. Lastly to Liesbeth for always being there to help if we needed anything and always doing it with a smile.

Ana Romero