The 2025 World Championships will be without one of swimming’s top all-around female breaststrokers.
2024 Olympic bronze medalist and defending 200 breast world champion, Tes Schouten, who represents the Netherlands, made the announcement on her Instagram on Tuesday, April 8th.
Schouten stated, “Since last September, I have been struggling with my health. It started with nerve pain on the left side of my face, which subsided after 2-3 weeks. In November, these symptoms returned, but it became so unbearable that I was admitted to the hospital. In the end, I spent 11 days in the hospital due to nerve pain, loss of power and function on the entire left side of my body. I am still not back to my old self and experience daily issues in the form of extreme fatigue and pain.
“As a result, I will not be participating in the World Championships in Singapore this summer. This situation makes me very sad because I would have loved to be there this summer to do what I enjoy most: competing in swimming, traveling, striving for victory, making memories, and hugging my wonderful friends from all over the world again.
“It’s strange to realize that I won Olympic bronze in Paris on August 2nd, when my body was at its strongest to achieve a top performance, and just a month later, I was struggling with immense pain, which reached its lowest point in November. Mentally, this is not always easy either. As an elite athlete, I have always been used to being fit, training hard every day, and being able to handle everything. Pushing my body until there was nothing left. Now it feels like my body is letting me down, while my mind still wants to push forward.
“A few weeks ago, I started a recovery plan to help my body readjust to stimuli and exertion without becoming fatigued or experiencing pain. How long this recovery process will take remains to be seen. But I believe that I will soon be the old Tes again, standing on the starting block with great joy, a big smile, and a healthy body. First, it’s time for what’s most important: recovery.”
Schouten has been on a rapid progression over the past two years. Her rise began prior to the 2023 World Championships, as she consistently improved the Dutch national record in the 200 breast. In March 2023, she established a new national mark with a time of 2:23.38, then lowered it to 2:22.21 the following month at the Eindhoven Qualification Meet.
She continued her momentum in June, posting a 2:21.71, and then further improved to 2:21.63 at the World Championships in Fukuoka, where she earned a bronze medal. Later that season, she brought the record down once more, clocking 2:21.52 at the Budapest stop of the World Cup.
24-year-old Schouten then made her biggest leap forward at the 2024 World Championships, held in Doha, about five months prior to the start of the Paris Games. She led from start to finish en route to her first individual Worlds gold. She stopped the clock at 2:19.81, moving up to #9 on the all-time top performers list and becoming the tenth woman to ever break the 2:20 barrier. She also added a silver in the 100 breast, stopping the clock in 1:05.82, just shy of her April 2023 national record of 1:05.71.
All-Time Top Performers, Women’s 200 Breaststroke:
- Evgenia Chikunova (RUS) — 2:17.55 (2023)
- Tatjana Smith (RSA) — 2:18.95 (2021)
- Rikke Pedersen (DEN) — 2:19.11 (2013)
- Kate Douglass (USA) — 2:19.24 (2024)
- Yuliya Efimova (RUS) — 2:19.41 (2013)
- Rebecca Soni (USA) — 2:19.59 (2012)
- Victoria Gunes (TUR) — 2:19.64 (2015)
- Rie Kaneto (JPN) — 2:19.65 (2016)
- Tes Schouten (NED) — 2:19.81 (2024)
- Lilly King (USA) — 2:19.92 (2021)
Schouten’s gold medal also marked a historic milestone for the Netherlands, as it was the nation’s first in the women’s 200 breast at the World Championships. In 2023, she had already become just the second Dutch woman to reach the podium in the event, following Wijda Mazereeuw, who claimed silver at the 1975 Championships.
Between March 2023 and February 2024, Schouten dropped an impressive 3.57 seconds from her personal best in the 200 breast.
At the Olympics, although unable to recreate that sub-2:20 form, Schouten won bronze in 2:21.05, and settled for 10th in the 100 breast.
With the retirement of Tatjana Smith, Schouten has established herself as the clear No. 3 in the world in the 200 breast, trailing only Olympic champion Kate Douglass and world record holder Evgeniia Chikunova.
Man 😔. Hoping for a speedy recovery.