In the current glut of university rankings more or less the same institutions come out on top with boring regularity. The ranking list of the Boat Race on the Limmat, organised by the Academic Sports Association Zurich (ASVZ), has been similarly monotonous for some years now: the University has beaten ETH for 13 years running. In honour of this year's 150th ETH Jubilee, the men from the latter institution seem to have made up their minds to put their last ounce of strength into turning the tide. As it turned out, the ETH Student's Eight narrowly let victory slip from their grasp in Zurich's 54th Derby Boat Race.

Exciting heats

In dry, although rather cool weather and against a (towards the end) impressive backdrop of spectators, a first successful heat in a best of three awakened hope in the ETH camp. In an excellent time of 1:40.22 (Uni: 1:40.62) Cox Florian Hofer and his team put the 600 metres between the lower basin of Lake Zurich and the "Gemüsebrücke" behind them. Hofer's namesake, Florian Eigenmann, active rower on the team for many years, concentrated on coaching the team this year. But the Uni team, under Cox Stefan Steiner, Vice World Champion 2004 in lightweight skiff, were not put off their course and won the second heat with a lead of a little over a second. In the third heat they rowed their way to victory - leaving the ETH team just 78 hundredths of a second behind them.

Victorious in the end: the ETH Women's Eight. large

Safe hands: ETH Women's Eight

Before that however, the ETH Women's Eight, under the guidance of Cox Madlen Hasler, had upheld the pecking order in this category. For the fifth consecutive time they left their opponents trailing behind them. Not that it had looked so good at the start: With 2:03.97 against 2:09.51 the Uni Eight (with Cox Andrea Zehnder) had won the first heat. But in the second, the boat from the Uni had caught a crab (the effect of a faulty stroke in which an oars jams under water or misses the water altogether) and this heat was decided in favour of the ETH crew. Then, in the third–deciding–heat, the women from ETH lived up to their role as favourites and crossed the finishing line almost three seconds ahead of their opponents.

ASVZ had organised a special boat race for ETH's 150th anniversary this year with the addition of an "international professorial eight“. Apart from the University of Zurich and the IDEA-League partners, TU Delft and RWTH Aachen, the University of Munich and the Technical University of Munich as well as the University of Karlsruhe also participated in this sporting event.

Hard training leads to success: ETH Professor Bernard Witholt hoisting the rowing trophy presented by ETH Rector Konrad Osterwalder. large

ETH profs row ahead

Originally, Imperial College London was to have participated with a Professor's Eight but had not managed to find the required number of professors to fill the boat. In the final, with a typical dose of ETH competitiveness, the ETH Professor's Eight (1) brought their boat over the finishing line ahead of the University of Munich in 1:59.32, thus earning their place on the top of the podium. ASVZ Director Kaspar Egger presented the trophy in this category. Winner of the "small final" and overall third was the team of professors from the TU Delft.

Good conditions, widespread interest: hundreds of spectators watched the finals. large

Despite the 150th anniversary of their home institution the triumphant ETH professors had not had victory handed to them on a plate. In must be said though that the differences in time–with around 20 seconds lead between the first boat and that from Karlsruhe, which brought up the rear–were more than clear. It must be presumed that not all fellow competitors had managed to make it to regular water trainings at 6 a.m. as did all participating ETH professors, following coach Eigenmann's decree.

The best united on the podium: ETH Women and Uni Men, applauded by Hans Weder, Rector of the University. large

150 hours of running, cycling, gymnastic exercises and swimming

One further ASVZ Jubilee event reached its conclusion in the afternoon, namely the "150 Sporting Hours“ competition. This had been an open challenge to all those who work and study at ETH to fulfil 150 hours of sporting activity within the first ten months of the year and to document what they had done. Those who had decided to undertake the challenge soon realised just how difficult it was to live up to such a regime, emphasised Kaspar Egger. Ten of those who had kept it up and come through were selected and received a prize. ETH alumna Silvia Frey won the first prize of an ASVZ voucher worth 2,000 CHF.