Marco van Noort is a member of an 8 man rowing team called ‘Voorbijganger’.

Literally translating as ‘Overtaker’, the name is also a clever play on words relating to the team captain’s cement factory business. The team are 3 times Dutch national champions in their class.

But what does this have to do with plant breeding?

If you are a fan of Echinacea ‘Razzmatazz’, then it means everything, as one of Marco’s team-mates is none other than Jan van Winsen, the cut flower grower who created E.‘Razzmatazz’.

It was during a practice session that Jan mentioned to Marco that he was about to destroy this crop of double Echinacea as he was getting no interest at the cut flower auction.

The significance of the existence of a double Echinacea wasn’t lost on Marco so he immediately alerted contacts in the perennials export industry, who came to the rescue by purchasing the plants.

‘Voorbijganger’ can be seen participating in the Great River Race that takes place in England in September over 33km of the River Thames.