SZEnavis, the concrete canoe team of the Széchenyi István University, was the only Hungarian team to achieve top results at the 19th German Concrete Canoe Regatta, which was attended by more than forty universities from seven countries. The students of the University use new technology to build their boats for each competition, and this year only a few grams separated them from being the lightest in the field. 

Founded in 2012, the concrete canoe team from Széchenyi István University has come a long way in the last 12 years: their first boat weighed 380 kilograms, and at the recent regatta in Germany they weighed just over 12 kilograms.

SZEnavis, the student team of SZE, represented Hungary at the prestigious European competition.

"From the very beginning, the unwritten rule within the team is that students never improve an existing development, but build a new boat every year with different technology. This is how the competition team ensures practical knowledge and continuous professional development for its members," shared András Pollák, founder and current mentor of SZEnavis and head of the University's Laboratory of Building Materials Testing and Building Physics. He pointed out that nearly seventy teams from more than forty universities in seven countries participated in the German competition, including the only Hungarian team from Széchenyi István University. The women's pair of SZEnavis came tenth out of forty participants, the men's pair ninth out of fifty, while the mixed pair came sixth out of thirty.

The concrete canoe SZEnavis sailed superbly on international waters.

“We get together at the beginning of the semester to figure out what technology to use to create our current boat. Our ideas have to pass the feasibility test, we check that we have all the tools at our disposal, and of course we ask our mentors and teachers for their opinions. Many people don't understand the point of building a canoe out of concrete, or how concrete stays on the water. For us, it's the engineering challenge, which we add to by always choosing different technologies that are less used by other teams. This year, our geotextile method proved to be unique,” - said civil engineering student Máté Gerencsér.

He added that the most important thing for them is not the rowing part of the competition, but to build the best canoe possible. Their goal was to have the lightest boat possible for the competition in Germany. At 12 kilograms, they achieved the best result in the team's history and they were separated only by grams from the lightest boat in the competition. The aim is to reduce the weight further, which is another challenge for them. The student admits that this is not only an excellent professional practical exercise, but it also strengthens team spirit, problem-solving skills and various engineering skills. “I am proud of the whole team, as we achieved our best result in the prestigious international field as the only Hungarian team. We will strive to continue to represent the Hungarian colours and our university successfully at the biannual regatta”, he stressed.

Concrete canoe from Győr: weighing only 12 kilograms, it was one of the lightest in the international field.