TÅGEKAMMERET no longer paddles its own canoe: Participating in the Regatta for the first time
The science and technology association, TÅGEKAMMERET, is participating for the very first time in the Regatta to compete for victory and ‘The Golden Bedpan’.
You should pay particular attention to lane 3 in the third heat on Friday for the 36th edition of the Regatta. For it will be a historic moment when the traditional student social association and lecture association, TÅGEKAMMERET, gets into the boat for the very first time.
"Now we’re participating seriously like the other associations," says Søren Kjærsgaard, one of the association's Regatta coordinators, who has been part of TÅGEKAMMERET for more than five years, including as a board member in 2022-2023.
TÅGEKAMMERET is particularly known for its peculiar rules and traditions. In connection with the Regatta, the association is normally not part of the competition itself, but has instead become synonymous with humorous and quirky side acts, including the infamous raft on which they have sailed their own lake, both literally and figuratively.
"TÅGEKAMMERET has often seen itself as somewhat isolated from the other student social committees. We have our own space, and we do it our way. Everyone else takes the Regatta a bit seriously. We’ve thought it was a bit silly," Søren Kjærsgaard recounts about what has previously characterised the association's approach to the Regatta.
The association represents seven different fields of study at the Faculty of Science: Mathematics, mathematical economics, physics, computer science, data science, IT product development, and nanoscience. It’s precisely the students who have requested that TÅGEKAMMERET break with traditions and participate in the Regatta to aim for victory.
We are a student social association and a lecture association for all our students. If they want us to sail, then we’re sailing
"We are a student social association and a lecture association for all our students. If they want us to sail, then we’re sailing," emphasises Søren Kjærsgaard, who, alongside preparations for the Regatta, is a PhD student at the Department of Mathematics.
FROM ONE RAFT TO ANOTHER
In recent times, most recently in 2024 but also in 2022, the members of TÅGEKAMMERET could be found on a homemade raft. Now it’s officially a thing of the past, according to Søren Kjærsgaard.
But although the raft is stored away, it’s not forgotten by the members of TÅGEKAMMERET.
"Our boat for the Regatta is called The Raft," says Søren Kjærsgaard, who was part of the board that initially abolished the raft for the Regatta in 2023, and it’s now confirmed that it will not return.
TÅGEKAMMERET REMAINS, THE RAFT AND THE FUN GO
The decision to participate seriously in the Regatta and achieve broader representation among the students was made in August last year, but according to Søren Kjærsgaard, it has been in the works for a long time.
"It has been a thought we have had for a few years, that we’d like to be less closed off from the outside," he explains.
It’s also part of a so-called 'long-term regatta strategy' for TÅGEKAMMERET, where they wish to support the Regatta and the community life across faculties.
"Now we’re participating genuinely," Søren Kjærsgaard states.
To the question of whether breaking with traditions and participating 'like all the other associations' dilutes TÅGEKAMMERET's uniqueness, Søren Kjærsgaard is clear in his response.
"Participating in the Regatta in a peculiar manner has not been a thing for a long time," he observes and elaborates with a detailed account of TÅGEKAMMERETS's role in the Regatta over the last 20 years.
"Back in the 00s and 10s, TÅGEKAMMERET participated in the preliminary heat, but always in a fun way, where we would get disqualified," he says and continues with some examples.
"We’ve sailed in a bathtub, and one year we had identical twins, where we built a box on each side of the lake and then 'teleported' them back and forth," explains Søren Kjærsgaard, who isn’t finished with the storytelling.
For as the Regatta grew larger and more serious, questions were also raised about why TÅGEKAMMERET had a place over other associations that had ambitions to win.
Afterwards, TÅGEKAMMERET had an intervening period where they were judges and had their own heat before the final, but where they still sailed in a silly manner. During this period, the raft was also introduced. According to Søren Kjærsgaard, it ended up being a very closed-off affair, which only a few invited members benefited from, some of whom were alumni.
“We’d like to be more engaging to the ordinary students outside this room while simultaneously preserving the good, cool, strange, and old traditions when we are in the smaller community,” Søren Kjærsgaard points out regarding the new balance between traditions and representation at TÅGEKAMMERET.
HOPING TO DEFEAT THE RIVALS FROM ALKYMIA
Although it will be the first time that TÅGEKAMMERET ventures out onto the water to sail for victory, they’re not only looking forward to participating.
“We have a friendly rivalry with Alkymia (the Chemistry student social committee) – and now we’re not in the same heat, but it could be fun to be faster than them, even though I don’t expect it,” says Søren Kjærsgaard, who hopes that TÅGEKAMMERET's sailors can shave a few seconds off their time in the final training sessions before everything kicks off on Friday.
In the long term, he hopes that TÅGEKAMMERET can become ‘moderately good’.
“But I believe it will be difficult to ever compete with the associations that have dedicated regatta positions, where you are on the board to participate in the Regatta,” he adds regarding TÅGEKAMMERET's level of ambition.
Normally, TÅGEKAMMERET stands out and is somewhat isolated from the other student social committees at AU, but in connection with their first serious participation this year, they have had a lot of contact with the other associations, reports Søren Kjærsgaard.
“They have been really kind in training us,” he recounts, highlighting an episode where the organisers from Umbilicus (the Medical Friday bar) visited TÅGEKAMMERET's training to demonstrate how to make a good ‘change’ in the boat. Therefore, he’s also optimistic about TÅGEKAMMERET's chances on Friday.
“In relation to the fact that this is something we have started this year, I am deeply impressed. This is the first time that we are doing this – and we can manage it,” Søren Kjærsgaard concludes.
This text is machine translated and post-edited by Lisa Enevoldsen.