Risk of injury

The mural depicting the defending swan overlooks the rowing club right next to the house. The fact that the rowing club is so close has its advantages. Not only because it makes a 6:30 AM training session a little more bearable, but also because after a party at Njord, you know for sure that you will be able to get home - even if it means climbing through a window.

However, the guys living in this house are only allowed to party during summer: each year, varsity rowers give up alcohol and other narcotic substances for over half a year. This period is called “in training”, and lasts from mid-December until the first weekend of July. During this period smoking and drinking are not allowed. In addition, there is also a bedtime: each rower is expected to be in bed by 11:30 PM. All these agreements contribute to the top fitness of the most serious rowers within the boat club. This code of conduct is taken very seriously - the rowers even swear an oath to the boat club’s board.

Of course, if “in training” exists, there must also be a counterpart. After the last race of the season, the rowers go “out of training”. The agreements made in December are dissolved, and summer can start! You can imagine that when students are banned from drinking for half a year, they will make sure to enjoy it to the fullest when it is allowed again. Each Tuesday evening, there is a party at the K.S.R.V. “Njord”, to make up for all the ones the rowers missed out on during their season.

After a night like that, you may find yourself in front of your door and realize you have forgotten your keys… Not a problem for these guys! If that ever happens, all they need to do is climb on the roof, and then squeeze themselves through the tiny window with their 6’4-foot-tall rower’s bodies. The only problem is that there is a staircase directly below the narrow window - which admittedly poses a significant risk of injury. But, the residents reassure us, that has never gone wrong (yet).