ABOUT WRR
This is already the 65th eights race between the University of Warsaw and the Warsaw University of Technology.
A long time ago, when the University of Warsaw began its 12th year of existence and the residents of Warsaw were preparing for the November Uprising, the first Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race took place in London.
The race became legendary and up to this day constitutes a great sporting event for all Londoners. Naturally, we cannot compete with the long tradition of this famous race on Thames, however, our own Warsaw race, organized for the 65th time, is also very respectable. Our history was not easy and its different twists and turns made us think about sport a little bit later. The Warsaw Student’s Sports Association was created exactly 100 years after the founding of the University in 1916. The rowing section almost immediately became one of the most popular in the academic community. Who knows, maybe it was coincidental? On this spot, where academic crews are going to compete this year, in November 1918, in the military dock of the German Yacht Club, students of the University of Warsaw and the Warsaw University of Technology disarmed Germans together. There was no bloodshed. They took guns, boats and swimming equipment. The weapons were given to the newly born Polish Army but the swimming equipment stayed with the students. This is how these spoils of war helped rowers in the pioneering days of the academic rowing. On the basis of this dock, the first water resort of the Student’s Sports Association Warszawa was created and the rowing section became one of the best equipped in the capital. Several years later, students-athletes from the Warsaw University of Technology and the University of Warsaw, no longer united, took part in a noble competition. The first race between these two universities dates back to the Second Polish Republic. Later on, because of the war, the race could not be organized for some time, however, this race will already be the 65th.
This year, the race is going to be magnificent, for it will be enriched by several different races. It will be a celebration of the 200th anniversary of the University of Warsaw. The celebration is going to be very festive. Apart from this respectable anniversary, this year marks also a slightly smaller one – the 100th anniversary of the Student’s Sports Association in Warsaw. This is why, those who are keen on academic sports should definitely watch these competitions, which are so deeply rooted in the history of the University of Warsaw and the capital itself.
Robert Gawkowski