Erica Georgina Terpstra (born 26 May 1943) is a retired Dutch politician of the

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( , VVD) is a Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party (Netherl ...

(VVD). Terpstra, a swimmer by occupation, participated in the

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

and

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

. She was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after the Dutch general election of 1977 serving from 8 June 1977 until 22 August 1994 when she became

Undersecretary Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is a ...

for Health, Welfare and Sport in the Cabinet Kok I serving from 22 August 1994 until 3 August 1998. After the Dutch general election of 1998 Terpstra returned to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

serving from 19 May 1998 until 15 December 2003 when she was selected as President of the Dutch Olympic Committee*Dutch Sports Federation (NOC*NSF).

Biography

Swimming

During the early 1960s Terpstra was a well-known freestyle swimmer in the Netherlands, specializing in the 100 meters. She participated in the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

where she came sixth in the 100m Freestyle, and fourth in the 4x100 Medley Relay. Following the Olympics she joined the HZ&PC swim team in The Hague. While a member of this team she was again chosen to be an Olympic athlete for the Netherlands and won two medals at the

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

: the bronze medal in the 4x100 metres Freestyle Relay and the silver in the 4x100 metres Medley Relay (together with Pauline van der Wildt (starting), Toos Beumer (second relay) en Winnie van Weerdenburg (third relay)). At her only individual start, on the 100m Freestyle, she finished in fourth position in the final. In addition to her Olympic exploits, Terpstra won the 1962 European championships and was champion of the Netherlands several times.

Interim years

After her swimming career Terpstra became a teacher, teaching Dutch to Chinese immigrants. She later became a sports journalist.

Politics

In 1977 Terpstra was elected to the parliament for the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( VVD), just barely making it into parliament on a seat appointed to the VVD in the fractional division. She remained in parliament through 2003 though, with a four-year break (1994–1998) during which she served as state secretary for Health, Welfare and Sport in the Kok-I cabinet. Upon leaving parliament in 2003, she was the senior member of the House, having been re-elected with a large number of preference votes each term (311.000 in 1994).

Sports official

On 21 October 2003 Terpstra was elected chairperson of the NOC*NSF, beating out Ruud Vreeman (the NOC*NSF board-nominated candidate) in the election. As chair in 2005 she was the first to present the new Fanny Blankers-Koen Trophy, which was named for legendary Dutch

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

Fanny Blankers-Koen Francina Elsje "Fanny" Blankers-Koen (; 26 April 191825 January 2004) was a Dutch track and field athlete, best known for winning four gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. She competed there as a 30-year-old mother of two, earning ...

. Terpstra presented the award to

Anton Geesink Antonius Johannes Geesink (6 April 1934 – 27 August 2010) was a Dutch people, Dutch List of judoka#Highest grades, 10th dan judoka. He was the first non-Japanese judoka to win gold at the World Judo Championships, a feat he accomplished in 196 ...

, Sjoukje Dijkstra, Nico Rienks and Ard Schenk in the new skating rink in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, a few months before the start of the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...

. She was supposed to award an FBK Trophy to Johan Cruijff as well, but he couldn't make it due to obligations at the pool drawing for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. During her tenure with NOC*NSF she was always well known for being present at every major sporting event in which Dutch athletes competed and for being exuberantly enthusiastic at every success. Terpstra retired from NOC*NSF in May 2010.

Film and television

Terpstra made her movie debut in 2004 in the movie version of the children's book '' Pluk van de Petteflet'' by Annie M.G. Schmidt. She played the role of mayor. Since early 2011 Terpstra hosts her own Travel-TV programme ''Erica op Reis'' for Dutch broadcaster Omroep MAX.

Personal life

* Terpstra has a Theosophist background. She is very drawn to

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. Rather than considering herself a Buddhist though, she refers to herself as a "life-long student of Buddhism". * Terpstra was married and has two sons. * On 8 June 2008 Terpstra received the Major Bosshardt Prize for exceptional contributions to Dutch society. * On 10 December 2008 Terpstra presented a book entitled ''Help, I'm losing weight!'' (Dutch: ''Help ik val af!''; ). This describes how she lost 40 kilos in six months."Erica Terpstra dieet - Help ik val af" op bol.com
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Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
E.G. (Erica) Terpstra
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Terpstra, Erica 1943 births Living people Dutch sports executives and administrators Dutch sports journalists Dutch lobbyists Dutch television presenters Dutch television producers Dutch Theosophists Dutch sportsperson-politicians Dutch people of Austrian descent European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Dutch female freestyle swimmers World record setters in swimming Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Leiden University alumni Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Provincial Council of Utrecht Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Olympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands Olympic silver medalists in swimming Olympic swimmers for the Netherlands People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians Swimmers from The Hague State secretaries for health of the Netherlands Swimmers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1964 Summer Olympics 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch women educators 20th-century Dutch women politicians 20th-century Dutch politicians 20th-century Dutch women writers 21st-century Dutch educators 21st-century Dutch women politicians 21st-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch women writers Dutch women television presenters Dutch women television producers 20th-century Dutch sportswomen First Kok cabinet members