Magdalena Johanna Maria "Marleen" Veldhuis (born 29 June 1979) is a retired

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. She was world record holder in four events (one individual event and three relay events). Veldhuis won eight world championships gold medals and 20 European championships gold medals. In the Olympics, she won a bronze medal in London 2012 in the 50 m freestyle, as well as three relay medals: bronze in Athens 2004, gold in Beijing 2008, and silver in London 2012.

Personal life

Veldhuis was born on 29 June 1979 in Borne in the Netherlands. She was brought up in the eastern part of the Netherlands. Veldhuis had a daughter in June 2010, causing her to miss the

2010 European Aquatics Championships The 2010 European Aquatics Championships were held from 4–15 August 2010 in Budapest and Balatonfüred, Hungary. It was the fourth time that the city of Budapest hosted this event after 1926, 1958 and 2006. Events in swimming, diving, synch ...

, and she returned to swimming for the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

Swimming career

Marleen Veldhuis is a former

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

player which she combined with swimming. After she decided to focus completely on swimming, Veldhuis made her international debut during 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 swimme ...

in Berlin, at the relatively late age of 23, where she won a bronze medal in the 4×100 m freestyle as part of a team with Manon van Rooijen, Chantal Groot and

Wilma van Hofwegen Willemina ("Wilma") Cornelia Adriana van Rijn-van Hofwegen (born 17 July 1971) 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 ...

. At the end of the year, she competed in

Riesa Riesa (; ) is a town in the district of Meißen in Saxony, Germany. It is located on the river Elbe, approximately northwest of Dresden. History The name ''Riesa'' is derived from Slavic ''Riezowe''. This name, romanised as "Rezoa", appears f ...

for the

European Short Course Swimming Championships 2002 The sixth edition of the European Short Course Swimming Championships (25 m) was held in the SachsenArena in Riesa, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic S ...

. There she won bronze medals in both relays, 4×50 m freestyle and 4×50 m medley.

Breakthrough

In April 2003 she joined Topzwemmen Amsterdam (TZA) to train as a full-time professional under the guidance of Fedor Hes. 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. ...

it turned out to be a great decision as she reached two individual finals in the 50 m freestyle ending 7th, and in the 100 m freestyle finishing 8th. In

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

she also reached the final in all relay events but did not win a medal. In December she participated in the

European Short Course Swimming Championships 2003 The 2003 European Short Course Swimming Championships were held at the National Aquatic Centre in Blanchardstown, Fingal Fingal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, pr ...

where she won her first international titles in the 50 m freestyle and the 4×50 m freestyle. In

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

she also won silver in the 100 m freestyle and bronze in the 4×50 m medley. 2004 started off with the 2004 European Aquatics Championships in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. There Veldhuis won two silver medals in the 4×100 m freestyle, together with Chantal Groot, Annabel Kosten and Inge Dekker, and individually in the 100 m freestyle. At the end of the week there was a bronze medal in the 4×100 m medley relay alongside Stefanie Luiken, Madelon Baans and Chantal Groot.

2004 Olympics

At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Veldhuis made her Olympic debut at the age of 25 and won the bronze medal in the 4×100 m freestyle, together with Inge de Bruijn, Inge Dekker and Chantal Groot. Her individual results at the Olympics were slightly disappointing with the 9th place in the 50 m freestyle and the 11th place in the 100 m freestyle. She was the anchor lady in the 4×100 m medley, she took over from de Bruijn who swam the butterfly leg, finishing 6th. At the end of 2004 she became Amsterdam Sportswoman of the year.

Post-Athens season

In October 2004 she avenged her failed individual Olympic campaign by winning the gold medal in the 50 m freestyle at the 2004 FINA Short Course World Championships in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

by beating Libby Lenton from Australia and Therese Alshammar from Sweden. In the 100 m freestyle she received a bronze medal behind Lenton and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Josefin Lillhage Josefin Lillhage (born 15 March 1980) is a former swimmer from Sweden, who won the bronze medal in the 200 m freestyle swimming, freestyle at the 2005 World Aquatics Championships in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She competed in four Olympiads: in C ...

. In December she successfully defended her 50 m freestyle at the

European Short Course Swimming Championships 2004 The 8th European Short Course Swimming Championships was an international swimming meet organized by LEN, and held in Vienna, Austria, December 9–12, 2004. The meet featured teams from Europe, swimming in 38 short course events. It was held ...

. In

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

she also won gold in both 4×50 m freestyle and 4×50 m medley, there was a silver medal for Veldhuis in the 100 m freestyle behind French

Malia Metella Malia Metella (born 23 February 1982 in Cayenne, French Guiana)2005 World Aquatics Championships in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, which was the only medal for her country during these World Championships. The

European Short Course Swimming Championships 2005 The European Short Course Championships 2005 were held in Trieste, Italy, from 8–11 December. Medal table Men's events 50 m freestyle 100 m freestyle 200 m freestyle 400 m freestyle 1500 m freestyle 50 m backstroke 100 m bac ...

were very successful for Veldhuis. In

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

she defended all her titles from the year before, but now she won also the gold medal in the 100 m freestyle.

2006

In April 2006 alongside Chantal Groot, Hinkelien Schreuder and Inge Dekker, Veldhuis set a world record and won the gold medal in the 4×100 m freestyle relay at the 2006 FINA Short Course World Championships. She failed to defend her 50 m freestyle title ending third. She finished second behind long-time rival Libby Lenton in the 100 m freestyle. In the summer she competed in the 2006 European Aquatics Championships, in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Hungary where she ended second in the 100 m freestyle, behind German's

Britta Steffen Britta Steffen (; born 16 November 1983) is a German former competitive swimming (sport), swimmer who specialized in freestyle swimming, freestyle sprint events, winning 2 gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics, 2008 Beijing Olympics. Biograp ...

who broke the world record, and third in the 50 m freestyle. In the 4×100 m freestyle relay she received a silver medal together with Chantal Groot, Inge Dekker and newcomer

Ranomi Kromowidjojo Ranomi Kromowidjojo (; born 20 August 1990) is a retired Dutch swimmer of mixed Dutch-Javanese Surinamese origin who mainly specialises in sprint freestyle events. She is a triple Olympic champion, winning the gold medal in the 4 × 100 m fre ...

. After these Championships she split up with her coach, Fedor Hes, and started to work with

Jacco Verhaeren Jacco Verhaeren (born April 4, 1969 in Rijsbergen) is a Dutch swimming coach and manager. He is best known for guiding Pieter van den Hoogenband, Inge de Bruijn, and Ranomi Kromowidjojo to multiple Olympic gold medals, and for leading significant ...

, who at the time was also working with triple Olympic champion

Pieter van den Hoogenband Pieter Cornelis Martijn van den Hoogenband (; born 14 March 1978) is a Dutch retired swimmer. He is a triple Olympic champion and former world record holder. Early life Born in Maastricht, Limburg, he is the son of Cees-Rein van den Hoogenb ...

. In

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

she successfully defended her 50 m and 100 m freestyle titles at the

European Short Course Swimming Championships 2006 The European Short Course Swimming Championships 2006 were held in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, from Thursday 7 to Sunday 10 December. The venue of the event was the aquatic center of Mäkelänrinteen uintikeskus, which last hosted a major ev ...

, but lost her relay titles when her team ended second in the 4×50 m freestyle and did not start in the 4×50 m medley. Just before this championships she had bettered Annemarie Verstappen's long standing 200 m freestyle national record.

2007

In the spring of 2007 she took part in 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 ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia. There she won the silver medal behind Libby Lenton. Veldhuis won the bronze medal in the 50 m freestyle despite being the favourite before the final. Alongside Inge Dekker, Ranomi Kromowidjojo, and another young talent

Femke Heemskerk Frederike Johanna Maria "Femke" Heemskerk (; born 21 September 1987) is a former Dutch competitive Swimming (sport), swimmer2007 FINA Swimming World Cup series, Veldhuis broke Swede Therese Alshammar's 50 m freestyle world record. Alshammar's world record had stood at 23.59 since March 2000. The new standard is 23.58 seconds. One month later she qualified for the Beijing Olympics with personal bests in the 50 and 100 m freestyle during the Dutch Open Swim Cup 2007 and competed at the

European Short Course Swimming Championships 2007 The 2007 European Short Course Swimming Championships, which was the 15th edition of the continental swimming event, were held between 13 and 16 December 2007 in Debrecen, Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spannin ...

. In

Debrecen Debrecen ( ; ; ; ) is Hungary's cities of Hungary, second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain Regions of Hungary, region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the large ...

she won the 50 m freestyle for the fifth time in a row but lost her 100 m freestyle title to Britta Steffen due to a bad turn, finishing second. She also won gold in the 4×50 m freestyle. A few days after the tournament she was elected Dutch Sportswoman of the Year.

Spring 2008

In March 2008 at 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: ...

Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...

, she won the 100 m and 50 m freestyle. In the latter event she broke the eight-year-old world record, set at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

by Inge de Bruijn, with a time of 24.09. She also broke the 4×100 m freestyle relay world record, together with Inge Dekker, Ranomi Kromowidjojo and Femke Heemskerk, and won the gold medal. The new standard was 3:33.62. Veldhuis also won a bronze medal in 4×100 m medley alongside Hinkelien Schreuder, Jolijn van Valkengoed and Inge Dekker. In April's 2008 FINA Short Course World Championships in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Veldhuis won four gold medals. Individually in the 50 m freestyle, lowering her own world record to 23.25, and the 100 m freestyle beating home favourite

Francesca Halsall Francesca Jean Halsall (born 12 April 1990) is a retired English competitive swimmer who has represented Great Britain at the Olympics, FINA world championships, and European championships, and England at the Commonwealth Games. She competed p ...

. Furthermore, she won gold in the 4×200 m freestyle with Dekker, Heemskerk and Kromowidjojo, bettering the world record. With Hinkelien Schreuder replacing Kromowidjojo, the Dutch team also lowered their own world record in the 4×100 m freestyle.

2008 Summer Olympics

At the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

she won the gold medal in the 4×100 m freestyle relay together with Inge Dekker,

and

Femke Heemskerk Frederike Johanna Maria "Femke" Heemskerk (; born 21 September 1987) is a former Dutch competitive Swimming (sport), swimmer2009 World Aquatics Championships The 2009 World Aquatics Championships () or the XIII FINA World Championships were held in Rome, Italy from 18 July to 2 August 2009. This was the second time the championships were held in the city after being previously hosted in 1994 World Aq ...

, for the 50 m and 100 m freestyle she had already qualified at the Olympics. The next week, she won four gold medals at the

European Short Course Swimming Championships 2008 The European Short Course Swimming Championships 2008 took place in Rijeka, Croatia from 11 to 14 December 2008. Medal table Medal summary Legend: * WR = World record * ER = European record * CR = Championships record Men's events Women's ...

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, in the 50 m and 100 m freestyle and 4×50 m freestyle and 4×50 m medley. In the 100 m freestyle she lowered her own European record during the heats, she also finished fourth in the 100 m butterfly.

2009

During the Amsterdam Swim Cup Veldhuis broke the 50 metre butterfly world record and 50 metre freestyle world record on the same day. At the

2009 World Aquatics Championships The 2009 World Aquatics Championships () or the XIII FINA World Championships were held in Rome, Italy from 18 July to 2 August 2009. This was the second time the championships were held in the city after being previously hosted in 1994 World Aq ...

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, ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

she won the gold medal in the 4×100 m freestyle alongside Inge Dekker, Ranomi Kromowidjojo and Femke Heemskerk.

2011

In 2011 Veldhuis won a gold medal at the

2011 World Aquatics Championships The 14th FINA World Aquatics Championships, FINA World Championships () were held on 16–31 July 2011 in Shanghai, Shanghai, China at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center. The 2011 World Championships featured five aquatics disciplines: swimming ...

as part of the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay alongside Inge Dekker,

and

Femke Heemskerk Frederike Johanna Maria "Femke" Heemskerk (; born 21 September 1987) is a former Dutch competitive Swimming (sport), swimmer2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

she won a bronze medal in the 50 m freestyle (her first Olympic medal in an individual event, in a time of 24.39) and a silver medal in the 4 × 100 m freestyle.

Personal bests

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Veldhuis, Marleen 1979 births Living people People from Borne, Overijssel Olympic swimmers for the Netherlands Dutch female butterfly swimmers Dutch female freestyle swimmers Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Netherlands Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands Olympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands World record setters in swimming Olympic bronze medalists in swimming World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists in swimming Swimmers from Overijssel 21st-century Dutch sportswomen