General
General information about the water sports course
Water Sports Course Tilburg is situated close to “ Beekse Bergen” holiday park in the municipality of Hilvarenbeek and nearby Tilburg. This rowing course was built as an extension/widening of the Wilhelmina Canal in 1977 and 1978. The rowing course is two kilometres long and almost 80 metres wide and has four rowing courses. It is also home to two rowing clubs (TOR and VIDAR) and a canoe club (KCT). The course is mainly used for rowing, but it is also used for canoeing and swimming.
The satellite photo from Google Earth below shows the water sports course. The bridge at Biest Houtakker is shown on the lower right. This is where the widening of the Wilhelmina canal starts and it also the start of the 2000 metres. The two white dots on the upper left (the club house of Vidar) indicate the nearby location of the finish tower. To the left of Vidar, at the end of the widening, the boat site and the club of KCT and TOR can be found.
Use of the course is not restricted to the clubs mentioned above. Other sports clubs and federations can rent the course for training or to organise rowing, canoeing or swimming competitions.
Management and maintenance of the course.
The Water Sports Course Tilburg foundation is the administrator of the course and is responsible for its maintenance and management and the accompanying sites and material.
Use the button above to contact the SWT board.
Events
The most important competitions are:
- ZRB-competitions
Every year, the southern rowing association organises a two-day competition which is included in the competition calendar. More than 1000 rowers participate.
- Dutch Master Open rowing
A competition for masters over 1000 metres
- Brabant regatta
The biggest canoeing competition of the Netherlands with approximately 250 competitors from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
- Opening tournament
This rowing competition is organised by Vidar, and is mainly for Dutch student rowing associations. This tournament is attended by approximately 2000 rowers.
- Murder Regatta
A very successful long-distance rowing competition organised by TOR from Haghorst to the finish tower on the water sports course. More than 400 participants.
- Bokkenrijders’ tour.
This is a tour organised by TOR in spring.
Training camps are also organised.
- There have several camps, varying from one day to a week or longer. Participants from Dutch rowing clubs but also international rowing clubs take part.
SWT accommodation
Next to the three clubs situated on the water sports course, each of which has its accommodation, SWT has facilities that can be rented by third parties to organise competitions.
What can you rent:
- Changing room for women with showers and toilets
- Changing room for men with showers and toilets
- Two aluminium boats and outboard engines
In the case of competitions, we can offer:
- Start pontoons
- Aligning device at the start
- 500,1000 and 1500 metre distances with marked lanes
- Time registration device to measure the time for every 500 metres. (switchboard included)
- A finish tower of two storeys with a good view of a large part of the course and the finish line. Inside the finish tower is a PC network, meeting rooms, counters, ticket counter and some useful tools.
Commercial shipping services still use the Wilhelmina canal. The course therefore has a semi-permanent character.
Facilities that obstruct the commercial shipping services such as lane marking etc. must be assembled and removed after every competition.
To make sure competitions can be held safely and without obstruction, shipping activities are temporarily halted. In consultation with the organisers of the competition, permission to halt commercial shipping is requested from the department of public works.
How to book the course.
At the top of this page, click “Training camps or “Competitions”. All the necessary information is displayed here.
Holiday Park “ Beekse Bergen”
Especially for camps that last longer than one day, “ Beekse Bergen” holiday park is the perfect spot to stay the night. More information can be found here.
The permanent residents of the course
Currently, there are three sport associations located on the course:
- Tilburgse Open Roeivereniging (TOR) with approximately 200 members.
For more information, see the website of TOR.
- Tilburgse Studenten Roeivereniging, Vidar, with 400 members.
For more information, see the website of Vidar.
- Kano club Tilburg with 60 members. For more information, see the website of KCT.
The KNRB about the course
The Royal Dutch Rowing Association (KNRB) is very positive about the water sports course.
It says:
The water sports course Tilburg plays an essential role in rowing in the Netherlands. Next to the fact that two rowing clubs are located on this course, a considerable number of competitions are organised here. In addition to competitions with mainly regional participation, the races organised by the southern rowing association (ZRB) are the most important. The ZRB competitions are included in the national 2-kilometre competition calendar in spring.
The course holds a unique position by offering an ideal site for training camps and rowing teams from different parts of our country. Many clubs, but also the Dutch national rowing team, regularly use the facilities in Tilburg.
The accommodation that offers the athletes the opportunity to sleep and eat at holiday park “ Beekse Bergen” makes Tilburg an ideal training location. Without this facility, many clubs would be forced to train in locations further away, or, in the worst case, would be unable to organise training camps.
Welcome
Altogether, with its beautiful surroundings, the water sports course in Tilburg is a fun, social course which is used by many athletes from Tilburg. During competitions, we welcome athletes not only from the Netherlands but also from abroad.
You are welcome as well!