Dutch Grand Dame of rowing passes

By Melissa Bray

The Grand Dame of Dutch rowing, Nely Gambon passed away last week. She leaves behind a long list of memories for anyone involved in Dutch rowing over the last 50 years and also a list of contributions to international rowing. Especially the part she played helping women’s rowing become part of the Olympic rowing programme.

Nely was born in 1924 and began rowing in the 1950s in the Netherlands at a time when women only rowed for “style”. Style rowing involved seeking to perfect the stroke. It focused solely on technique. Competitive, “speed” rowing was, at this time, a male-only domain.

In 1957 Nely became a board member of the Dutch Rowing Federation where she remained involved until fairly recently. This included stepping into the women’s commission and various other federation roles. Nely was also active at regattas, her voice often heard commentating the races. In this time she embraced and promoted speed rowing

“Her behaviour was always lady-like,” describes former Dutch national team rower and friend, Helma Nepperus. “She was a woman of the Hague, always very elegant. She was the Grand Dame.”

Nepperus remembers how Nely always invited potential new Dutch Rowing Federation members to her house for dinner. “She would be checking them out!” says Nepperus.

Joining FISA, Nely became the first woman member of the FISA Council in 1969. She also became the chair of the FISA Women’s Rowing Commission. This gave Nely the platform to become one of the instrumental voices in getting women’s rowing onto the Olympic programme. Nely remained on the Council until her retirement in 1982. But she still remained very much in contact with the rowing world.

“Nely was always at Lucerne and Duisburg and also at Dutch national competitions,” says Nepperus. Even at the age of 81 in 2005, Nely came to watch the opening ceremony and the final day of the Under 23 World Rowing Championships on the Bosbaan in Amsterdam.

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