Jaap Havekotte (16 March 1912 – 23 April 2014) was a Dutch speed skater. He skated in several Dutch championships during the 1940s, but is best known as the founder of Viking Schaatsenfabriek, a Dutch producer of

ice skate Ice skates are metal blades attached underfoot and used to propel the bearer across a sheet of ice while ice skating. The first ice skates were made from leg bones of horse, ox or deer, and were attached to feet with leather straps. These skates ...

s. The Viking ice skate proved to be very popular, and by 1972 every speed skating world record was skated on Viking ice skates. Viking was the first company to produce the

clap skate The clap skate (also called clapper skates, clapskates, slap skates, slapskates, from Dutch language, Dutch ) is a type of ice skate used in speed skating. Unlike in traditional skates where the blade is rigidly fixed to the boot, clap skate ...

on a large scale. Due to his significant influence on speed skating in the Netherlands, speed skaters from later generations spoke fondly of Havekotte and used to call him 'Oom Jaap' ('Uncle Jaap'). Havekotte died on 23 April 2014 at the age of 102.

References

1912 births 2014 deaths Dutch male speed skaters Dutch men centenarians People from Diemen Speed skaters from North Holland 20th-century Dutch sportsmen {{Netherlands-speed-skating-bio-stub