2024 DUTCH QUALIFICATION MEET
- October 19th & October 20th
- Drachten, Netherlands
- SCM (25m)
- Results
Several high-profile Dutch athletes raced in Drachten over the weekend at a competition which served as a qualification opportunity for December’s Short Course World Championships. Performances from here as well as over the course of the 3-stop World Aquatics Swimming World Cup series will be considered for Budapest, although the Royal Dutch Swimming Federation (KNZB) will only be sending an 8-athlete roster to SC Worlds.
Of note, Olympians Marrit Steenbergen and Tes Schouten are currently on a racing hiatus and are opting out of qualifying for Budapest.
Notable Men’s Results
23-year-old Kenzo Simons topped the 50m free podium, putting up a time of 21.51 to get to the wall first. That held a slight advantage over teammate Sean Niewold who settled for silver in 21.72 while Dutch newcomer Renzo Tjon-a-Joe rounded out the podium in 21.94.
We reported how 29-year-old Tjon-a-Joe used to represent Suriname internationally but, as of April of this year, now races for the Netherlands.
Niewold was back in action in the prelims of the men’s 100m fly where he notched a top-seeded effort of 50.82. Although he dropped the final, the 22-year-old’s performance checked in as a new lifetime best. Entering this competition, Niewold’s career-quickest rested at the 52.55 clocked during the 2021 World Cup series. He’s now the 3rd-best 100m fly performer ever from the Netherlands.
Niewold settled for silver in the 50m fly, however, as Thomas Verhoeven was too quick to catch en route to grabbing the gold.
Verhoeven put up a time of 22.44, the fastest of his career, to out-touch Niewold by .30. Niewold hit 22.74 followed by Thom de Boer who bagged bronze in 23.38.
In terms of fastest Dutchman ever, only national record holder Nyls Korstanje has been faster, owning the national record at 21.96 from just his past week in Shanghai.
Koen de Groot was another man who made waves, taking both the 50m and 100m breaststroke events.
De Groot logged a winning effort of 26.35 in the shorter event with the next-closest competitor represented by Bram Zwetsloot who touched in 26.96 as the only other sub-27-second swimmer.
The 100m breast saw de Groot get it done for gold in 57.49, beating the pack by well over a second. This marked a new PB for de Groot and he’s now the 4th-swiftest Dutchman in history.
Notable Women’s Results
Milou van Wijk got on the board multiple times during the competition, including the women’s 50m and 100m free.
The 19-year-old logged a personal best of 24.30 to get to the wall first in the splash n’ dash, beating the next-closest competitor by .34. Tessa Giele was the silver medalist in 24.64 and Kim Busch was the 3rd place finisher in 24.66.
Kira Toussaint settled for 4th place in 24.72 while Roos Vanotterdijk of Belgium scored a new national record of 24.77 en route to capturing 5th place.
In the 100m free, van Wijk produced a winning effort of 52.51 for another personal best. Her performance checked her in as the 7th-quickest Dutch performer in history in the process.
Busch wrangled up silver in 53.88 and Sam van Nunen rounded out the podium in 55.43.
Maaike de Waard topped the women’s 50m and 100m back events, posting respective results of 26.30 and 57.15. Toussaint settled for silver in both events, hitting 26.70 in the 50m and 57.57 in the 100m. She also snagged the gold in the 50m fly in 25.26
Vanotterdijk repeated as bronze medalist in both races, with times of 26.88 and 58.04. The latter represented a new Belgian record while her faster 50m heats swim of 26.61 also represented a new national standard. 19-year-old Vanotterdijk also earned gold in the 100m IM in 1:00.17, within striking distance of her best-ever 59.34 from 2 years ago.
Giele found posted an effort of 30.15 in the 50m breast and 56.48 in the 100m fly to came away with the gold in both events. Her 100m fly performance checks her in as the #3 Dutch performer in history.
