11 November 2023

By Göran R Buckhorn

Dutch Olympic oarsman Roelof “Roel” Luijnenburg (Luynenburg, in English) passed away on 6 November at age 78.

Roelof “Roel” Luijnenburg was born in Haarlem, the Netherlands, in 1945.

At the 1966 World Championships in Bled, Luijnenburg, together with Ruud Stokvis, Eric Niehe and  Maarten Kloosterman took a bronze medal in the coxless four. After the championships, the four split up, and Luijnenburg and Stokvis began racing in the coxless pair. In 1968, after winning the Luzern Regatta, they were medal contenders for the Olympic Games in Mexico City. The duo managed to reach the A-final in the pair, but as Luijnenburg had a fever earlier in the games, rowing at the high altitude on Lake Xochimilco got the better of them. The official results show that they ended up in sixth place. However, being in contact with Olympic historian Hilary Evans, who by day is a sheep farmer outside Aberystwyth, Wales, who has been in contact with Dutch Olympic historian Jeroen Heijmans, Luijnenburg and Stokvis never finished the race.

Although, taking a break after the 1968 Games, Luijnenburg and Stokvis were back at the Olympic Games in 1972. In the A-final, the Dutch duo won a bronze medal, with East Germany taking the gold and Switzerland the silver.

While Stokvis ended his active rowing career with the Olympic bronze, Luijnenburg continued to row. In 1975, Luijnenburg and his new partner, Harry Droog, competed in the Silver Goblets & Nickalls’ Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. Racing for Amsterdamsche Studenten Roeivereniging Nereus/ Roeivereniging de Where, the Dutch crew easily won their first two heats over St. Catherine’s Rowing Club, Canada, and St. Paul’s School, Concord, USA. The third heat became a little tougher for the Dutch crew meeting Henley Rowing Club, but the Dutch crew won the race. In the final, the Dutch oarsmen met G. A. S. Locke and F. J. Smallbone, a combination crew from Leander Club and Thames Tradesmen’s Rowing Club. Due to poor steering early in the race, the British crew was never able to catch up. Luijnenburg and Droog won by 1/3 of a length and won the Silver Goblets.

Luijnenburg continued to row, again with Stokvis; they were rowing into their 70s.

Roelof “Roel” Johan Luijnenburg, born 23 May 1945, died 6 November 2023.

With special thanks to Hilary Evans.