Inge Dekker knocked out some pretty impressive times in a tune-up meet on the road to the European Championships in Berlin in August.
At the KNZB Challenger, Dekker led the field in the 50 free with an impressive 24.72. That is .01 faster than her tied-for-tenth-place 24.73 from April; she is now alone at tenth. In the 100 fly, Dekker went 57.32, again improving by .01 her world fourth-place ranking of 57.33, a time she achieved in April at Eindhoven.
Touching second in the 100 fly was fellow Dutch national teamer Femke Heemskerk. Her time of 58.99 put her 31st in world rankings. Heemskerk then went on to a 1:00.92 in the women’s 100 back, which puts her in the world’s top 30.
Also during the KNZB Challenger, Marlou van der Kulk of Netherlands broke the European IPC record for men’s 100 fly S14 with 1:10.32. In the 400 IM, Marc Evers of Netherlands broke the IPC World Record in SM14 going 4:52.79. Magda Toeters broke the SB14 world record in 200 breast with 2:49.60.
The KNZB Challenger is a sort of test meet for the Dutch National Team in preparation for European Championships in Berlin, as well as a last-ditch meet to qualify for Euros. Organized by KNZB (the Royal Dutch Swimming Federation) and MNC Dordrecht, the host club of the European Junior Swimming Championships, it is taking place between prelims and finals on Friday, July 11th and Saturday, July 12th July at the Sportboulevard in Dordrecht.
KNZB Challenger events take place across the country to give audiences from several cities the opportunity to watch their country’s stars in action. For the National Team, the Challenger events are meant as a tune-up meet, while for hopefuls, a last chance to make Euros. The organizers opened the KNZB Challenger to all entrants.
