Bas Verwijlen (born 1 October 1983 in

Oss OSS or Oss may refer to: Places * Oss, a city and municipality in the Netherlands * Osh Airport, IATA code OSS People with the name * Oss (surname), a surname Arts and entertainment * ''O.S.S.'' (film), a 1946 World War II spy film about O ...

) is a Dutch right-handed

épée The ( or , ), sometimes spelled epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contain ...

fencer and four-time

Olympian Olympian or Olympians may refer to: Religion * Twelve Olympians, the principal gods and goddesses in ancient Greek religion * Olympian spirits, spirits mentioned in books of ceremonial magic Fiction * ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'', fiction ...

.Biografie: Bas Verwijlen
basverwijlen.com, ret: Aug 07, 2008 He started fencing when he was five years old at fencing club Zaal Verwijlen in Oss, owned by his father

Roel Verwijlen Roel son of almighty Zeus and beautiful mortal Alcmene, was the strongest man who ever lived. Now when Roel was eight months old, he woke one night to find a monstrous snake had coiled itself around him. Instead of crying out, baby Roel wrapped his ...

, who is also the Dutch national coach. Until he was twelve years old, he fenced in two different weapons, but he has since chosen to focus on the

. He became part of the Dutch national team and took part in the

Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and " Olympiad". The Universiade is referr ...

(17th in

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, 2001), Youth Olympics, Dutch national championships, but also European and World Championships. As a junior, he won eleven national titles, he became third at the World Championships under-16 in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

and represented the Netherlands at every European and World Championship since 1998. He won two World Cups for Juniors, a performance never achieved by another fencer. It was time for his senior career and also managed to achieve World class performances there. At the 2005 World Championships in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

he won the bronze medal. At the European Championships 2005 in

Zalaegerszeg Zalaegerszeg (; hr, Jegersek; sl, Jageršek; german: Egersee) is the administrative center of Zala county in western Hungary. Location Zalaegerszeg lies on the banks of the Zala River, close to the Slovenian and Austrian borders and west-southw ...

he and his Dutch teammates came sixth in the nations tournament. He reached the final and became second at the 2006 European Championships in Izmir. After the Grand Prix meeting in Stockholm in 2008 he was secure of qualification for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In the preparations for this tournament he won the World Cup meeting in

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the secon ...

, Colombia in June and he also won the Dutch national title. At the 2008 Summer Olympics he reached the last eight, losing to the eventual gold medalist,

Matteo Tagliariol Matteo Tagliariol (born 7 January 1983, in Treviso) is an Italian right-handed épée fencer, 2008 team Olympic bronze medalist, and 2008 individual Olympic champion. His fencing style has been described as "technical, simple, spontaneous, clea ...

. At the 2011 European Championships, he finished in 2nd place, a result he repeated at the 2011 World Championships. He qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics, finishing in 13th place, despite a knee injury.

Medal Record

World Championship

European Championship

Grand Prix

World Cup

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Verwijlen, Bas 1983 births Living people Dutch male épée fencers Fencers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic fencers for the Netherlands Sportspeople from Oss European Games competitors for the Netherlands Fencers at the 2015 European Games Fencers at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century Dutch people