Manon van Rooijen (born 3 July 1982 in Leerdam) is a

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

from the Netherlands, who was a member of the Dutch Women's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay Team that won the silver medal at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

. She did so alongside

Inge de Bruijn Inge de Bruijn (; born 24 August 1973) is a Dutch former competitive swimmer. She is a four-time Olympic champion and a former world record-holder. Personal De Bruijn was born in Barendrecht, Netherlands. Inge is the sister of Olympic water po ...

, Wilma van Hofwegen and

Thamar Henneken Thamar Nanette Henneken (born 2 August 1979 in Delft, South Holland) is a former freestyle swimmer from the Netherlands, who was a member of the Dutch Women's 4×100 m freestyle relay team that won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympi ...

Swimming career

Van Rooijen made her international senior debut at the

European LC Championships 1999 The European Long Course Championships 1999 were a swimming competition held in Istanbul, Turkey from Monday 26 July to Sunday 1 August, in the 50 m pool of the Ataköy Olympic Pool Stadium. The 24th edition of the event was organised by the ...

in Istanbul, Turkey with 4th places in both 4 × 100 m freestyle and 4 × 100 m medley relay. One year later she started again in the European LC Championships this time it took place in Helsinki, Finland. There she started individually in the 100 m and 200 m freestyle ending up 17th and 24th. In the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay there was a 7th place. In September 2000 she competed at the Sydney Olympics where she won a silver medal in 4 × 100 m freestyle relay together with Inge de Bruijn, Wilma van Hofwegen and Thamar Henneken. There was also an 11th place in the 4 × 200 m freestyle.

Post-Sydney Olympics

Van Rooijen left for the United States in January 2001 to study at the University of Miami. She kept her place in the national team during the

2001 World Aquatics Championships right The 2001 World Aquatics Championships or the 9th FINA World Swimming Championships were held in Fukuoka, Japan between 16 July and 29 July 2001. The opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the swimming and synchronised swimming events, ...

in Fukuoka,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

which turned out to be a disappointment. In both relays, 4 × 100 m and 4 × 200 m freestyle, she and her team were eliminated in the heats. She reached her first individual final in 2002 in Berlin at the

2002 European Aquatics Championships The 2002 LEN European Championships were held in Berlin, Germany from Monday 29 July to Sunday 4 August 2002 at the Berlin Eurosportpark in the German capital. The 26th edition of the event was organised by the LEN. A total number of 786 swimmers ...

finishing 8th in the 200 m freestyle. There was also a bronze medal for her in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay together with Marleen Veldhuis, Chantal Groot and Wilma van Hofwegen and a 5th place in the 4 × 200 m freestyle. At the

2003 World Aquatics Championships The 10th FINA World Aquatics Championships were held July 12–27, 2003 in Barcelona, Spain. The championships featured competition in all 5 of FINA's disciplines: Swimming, Diving, Synchronised swimming, Water Polo, and Open Water Swimming. C ...

in Barcelona she just missed out for a world championship medal by finishing 4th in the 4 × 100 m freestyle. She also achieved a 7th place in the 4×200 freestyle. After three years she returned home and found a place in Dordrecht, with Topzwemmen West-Nederland under the guidance of trainer-coach Dick Bergsma but failed to qualify for the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

due to a severe shoulder

injury An injury is any physiological damage to living tissue caused by immediate physical stress. An injury can occur intentionally or unintentionally and may be caused by blunt trauma, penetrating trauma, burning, toxic exposure, asphyxiation, o ...

Comeback

After she missed out all international tournaments in 2004 and 2005 she returned to international competition in Budapest to compete in the

2006 European Aquatics Championships The 2006 European Swimming Championships were held in Budapest, Hungary, from 26 July – 6 August 2006. Disciplines include swimming, diving, synchronised swimming (synchro) and open water swimming. European Water Polo Championships for 200 ...

. Meanwhile, she started to train with the Nationaal Zweminstituut Amsterdam where she is coached by Martin Truijens. She only started in the 4 × 200 m free ending up with an 11th place. Although she didn't meet the qualifying standards she was selected for the

2007 World Aquatics Championships The 2007 World Aquatics Championships, or the XII FINA World Championships, were held in Melbourne, Australia from 17 March to 1 April 2007. The competition took place at three locations in central Melbourne: the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic C ...

in Melbourne,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and started in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay which reached the final and ended third.

2008

In 2008, she took part in the

2008 European Aquatics Championships The 2008 LEN European Aquatics Championships were held in Eindhoven, Netherlands, from 13–24 March 2008. They were the European championships for swimming (50 m), diving and synchronised swimming for 2008. Two new events were contested: ...

in front of her home crowd in

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

in the 4 × 200 m relay. A time-trial in the 100 m freestyle secured her a spot in the olympic 4 × 100 m freestyle team. She also started in the 4 × 200 m freestyle but she and

Linda Bank Linda Bank (born 24 January 1986 in Haarlem) is a Dutch Olympic swimmer.

were replaced by Inge Dekker and Marleen Veldhuis for the final. At the 2008 Summer Olympics she started in the heats of the 4×100 freestyle relay alongside Ranomi Kromowidjojo,

Femke Heemskerk Frederike Johanna Maria "Femke" Heemskerk (; born 21 September 1987) is a former Dutch competitive swimmerHinkelien Schreuder. But she and Schreuder were replaced for the final by Inge Dekker and Marleen Veldhuis. Van Rooijen saw her teammates win the final and received a gold medal for her efforts in the heats. Together with Heemskerk, Kromowidjojo and

Saskia de Jonge Saskia de Jonge (born 22 November 1986 in Scheerwolde) is a Dutch swimmer who specializes in freestyle distances of up to 200 m and is part of the Dutch national team. She is currently training in Amsterdam under the guidance of Martin Truijen ...

she swam the heats of the 4 × 200 m freestyle but they failed to qualify for the final.

Personal bests

References

Dutch Olympic Committee

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rooijen, Manon Van 1982 births Living people Olympic gold medalists for the Netherlands Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands Olympic swimmers for the Netherlands Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Miami Hurricanes women's swimmers University of Miami alumni People from Leerdam Dutch female freestyle swimmers European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists in swimming Sportspeople from Utrecht (province) 21st-century Dutch women