It is the second year in a row that Saurus has won prizes on the Concept2v rowing machine: in 2023, Biomedical Sciences student Sanne de Kleijn took first place in the Women's Advanced individual category with a Dutch record. That event was part of the Dutch Indoor Rowing Championships (NK Indoorroeien). However, this year, the NK organisers switched to RP3-brand machines, which Eijkens described as “incredibly expensive and not entirely reliable.” As a result, many clubs, including Saurus, opted to compete in this year's ‘unofficial NK’ on the familiar machines.
According to Eijkens, First-year Women's Four's victory is "quite exceptional. We certainly don't achieve first place every year. And three of the four rowers only got into a rowing boat for the first time last September. They immediately broke the club record by 7 seconds. That's pretty hefty difference at a [virtual] distance of two thousand metres. Truly impressive."
Additionally, the rowers of the Women's Middle Group also stood out. They usually row four in one boat, but now competed individually and made up half of the top six (spots 3, 5 and 6). As first-years, they also scored highly last summer with a top-10 finish at the prestigious Henley Women's Regatta in England.
Does this mean Saurus can get ready for a successful season on the water? "An indoor victory doesn’t immediately make you a favorite for ‘normal’ races," says Eijkens. “Indoor rowing is primarily a test of strength, whereas on-water racing requires you to account for environmental factors as well. Only after the first outdoor races you can really say where you stand. But this does inspire optimism, it's a good starting point of the season. Both the mentality and technique are clearly in the right place."