The history of WSZV Aqua starts on the 19th of May 1988, when a group of enthusiastic students of Wageningen University founded WSZV Aquacadabra. 

As time went by the association grew in number of members and became more professional. At one point the associations' fleet consisted of a Stern and a Jol which were used to sail on the Rhine. Around 1998 the association consisted of about 30 members.

2003 was a special year for the association. The Stern and the Jol weren't being used anymore and the amount of members was quite low. However, this was no reason to give up. On the contrary, just like 15 years before a few members rolled up their sleeves and created the foundation for the Aqua we know today.

Their efforts resulted in a new highlight in Aqua's history; the purchase of the Spanker named "Atlantis" in 2005. After this moment it was once again possible to sail on the Rhine. Not surprisingly the Atlantis became the pride of the association.

In the following years the amount of members at Aqua grew steadily, from about 15 members in 2006 to roughly 30 in 2008. This was also the year that Aqua's 4th Lustrum was celebrated under the famous titel "Herboren" (Reborn). A title that did justice to the renewed status of Aqua. One year later in 2009 the name "WSZV Aqua" was made official after having been used for years as the unofficial name for the association. 

Aqua grew and grew and eventually one boat was far from enough for all members to able to sail on the Rhine. Furthermore, it was time for something new. At the same time the desire for weekly association nights grew. 

That's why 2010 also became a year of big changes; a collaboration was started with the Waterscoutsgroup Musinga-Rijn. Since then each Thursday the members can come together to sail on the Rhine on a big fleet of Lelievletten. Several committees were fused together and the Atlantis made room for a Laser 2 named "Aquamore", to serve a more sportive option as opposed to the Lelievletten. With two dinghies, the laser 2 and a 420 called "Jemoeder" (Yourmother) and a fleet of Lelievletten the association could keep growing. 

In 2013 the 5th Lustrum was celebrated under the name "Op Dreef" (On Track), a name that suited the previous 5 years at Aqua. The Lustrum was celebrated properly with among other things a gala with a dinner, an open party and a lustrum sailing weekend on a zeilklipper named "Amsterdam". At the end of the year a new dinghy, a Nordet, was bought named "Aquaplus" to cater to the growing demand for dinghy sailing.

In the following year the association kept growing and the board dared something new; board suits. Sadly during this time the beloved dinghy Jemoeder broke down, but through the resourcefulness of the 2014 Board Jemoeder was used properly one last time. During their constitutiondrink Jemoeder proved impossible to steal as their guestbook. 

At the end of 2014 Aqua was at an all time high with a little over 70 members! In the following years everything at Aqua kept going pretty smoothly and even some (unofficial) subgroups started forming to strengthen the association spirit.

Furthermore, and old desire surfaces again; our very own cabin yacht. After many hours of discussion however, the purchase of two new dinghies is proposed. In 2017 it is finally time and in the spring a laser namer "Aqua'akthar" and in the fall an ISO-topper named "Aquamás" are added to our fleet. 

In 2018 it was again time to celebrate another Lustrum, the 6th one this time. Where they chose for Reborn and On Track in the previous years, this time the name "'t Ruime Sop" (Open Waters) was chosen. In May the celebrations started with the Lustrumweek and in Juli Adriatic Sea was where the celebration continued during the Lustrumtrip to Croatia!

These days Aqua is at a steady 50 members and is, just like 30 years ago, a proud and active studentsailingassociation for all students in Wageningen that enjoy sailing!

 

Before Aqua even existed there were already a few sailing students in Wageningen. Read here about our predecessors H62!