With the conclusion of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, coach Jacco Verhaeren is headed back to his native Netherlands.
The former coach of Pieter van den Hoogenband, Inge de Bruijn and Ranomi Kromowowidjojo is set to begin working as the Royal Dutch Swimming Federation’s (KNZB) performance Strategist Top Swimming as of September 1st.
Verhaeren’s most recent role was that of National Performance Director for the French Swimming Federation, with France finishing in 3rd place among all swimming nations at the 2024 Olympic Games. That was largely due to Leon Marchand‘s remarkable haul of 4 individual gold medals, although 33-year-old veteran Florent Manaudou and Anastasia Kirpichnikova also scored individual hardware. The men’s medley relay also landed on the podium with a bronze, a huge bonus at the end of the competition.
Prior to landing in France, Verhaeren was at the Aussie helm since 2013 after leaving his role as Technical Director for KNZB. He was among those credited with rehabbing the Aussie swimming culture after a tumultuous 2012 Olympics which included the ‘Stilnox scandal’ and disappointing results overall for the Australians in London.
Aschwin Lankwarden, general manager of the KNZB, is very happy with Verhaeren’s return, “Jacco has proven, both at the KNZB and in Australia and France, that he knows how swimmers can become and remain successful. With the knowledge and experience he has gained abroad, we expect that he can also give new impulses to Dutch competitive swimming.”
In a unique dual-faceted role, Verhaeren will also hold a position within the sports management team at the cycling team Team Visma | Lease a Bike. At the KNZB, he will work closely with technical director Sjors Lommerts. The latter will focus more on the organizational and business aspects of competitive swimming and other sports within the KNZB.
Lommerts says, “We see the fact that Jacco will also become one of the sports managers at the cycling team Team Visma | Lease a Bike as an added value, just as they see it the other way around. Jacco has always been a great advocate of cross-pollination. He knows better than anyone what one sport can learn from another, what similarities and win-win advantages there are and how you can use them to become better together.”
I’m a bit surprised by this. I thought top coaches would be leaving the Netherlands, not returning. I know Femke Bol’s longtime coach Bram Peters is switching to Belgium. Sports funding is in crisis mode in the Netherlands. Lots of fear. The new right wing government plans to slash 45 million euros per year from the sports budget. This is parallel to current athletic federation officials believing they need an increase of 20 million euros annually just to maintain the same level.
The Dutch won a record 15 gold in Paris. If the proposed budget cuts go through, they are already planning to seek dramatically increased corporate and donor support. The success in Paris was considered a huge necessary… Read more »