The Tilburg Student rowing association was founded on the 2nd October in 1961. Nine students from Tilburg got together at Café den Heuvel for the founding meeting of T.S.R. Vidar. Especially the, back then, third-year student Ton Swarttouw had taken the lead. Because of his knowledge as a helmsman at De Delftsche Sport he was enthusiastic. Together with Elly Janssen from the Groningsche rowing association de Hunze, he taught the first group of Vidraten the principles of rowing. The boats were financed by the members themselves, as was the accommodation – a shed at Roessel’s farm. The beginning was hard but through a lot of enthusiasm and commitment the association grew. A large number of traditions, such as the Vidar-blazer and the introduction of the ‘zwamvraag’ are from that time.
Vidar grows
In the sixties, Vidar moved to a new shed near the Koningshoeven after being at the barn of the farmer van Roessel and after being in an old brick factory. In 1966 Martin Fox, Loek Boonenkamp and Philip van Eekeren won the first medal for Vidar in a 2+ competition at the ARB. The number of members increased and even a house was inhabited by no fewer than nineteen members.
Just after the second anniversary, however, Rijkswaterstaat announced that the shed at the Koningshoeven had to be demolished and, to make matters worse, it was even proposed at the General Members Meeting to cancel Vidar. Fortunately, the members of that time decided to make an effort for Vidar and that brought Vidar back on top.
New Location
Since the early 1970s, Rijkswaterstaat had plans to dig a new four-lane rowing course near the Beekse Bergen. It was therefore an easy decision to choose where Vidar could be housed again. The new warehouse was festively opened in 1979 at the location where Vidar is still located today. In the same year, a milestone was also achieved in the rowing field: the first Vidar gaze among the ladies was a fact. The following year the international breakthrough immediately followed. Walter dan Bemand and Eduard Dormans rowed in the 2- in for example Dortmund and Ratzenburg and Brigitte van Spaendonck could appear in a ladies 4* at the start in Tours. Inge van der Putten achieved the most remarkable performance by racing out of the blue in the national Ladies 8+ and she was allowed to debut at world championships, where they came in sixth. Two years later she managed to qualify for the World Cup again and with her Ladies 8 she won the first international title in the history of Vidar.
In 1979, the first Vidar house was also established at the first drink of Vidar.
