Mirjam de Koning (born Peper) (born 16 July 1969 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

) is a Dutch

paraplegic Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neura ...

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 ...

.Athlete biography: Mirjam de Koning-Peper
, beijing2008.cn, retrieved September 8, 2008 Mirjam de Koning - Peper

De Koning was born with damaged

connective tissue Connective tissue is one of the four primary types of animal tissue, a group of cells that are similar in structure, along with epithelial tissue, muscle tissue, and nervous tissue. It develops mostly from the mesenchyme, derived from the mesod ...

. After her daughter Sarina was born in 1993, she had seven

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

surgeries. In 1999 she suffered from a

hernia A hernia (: hernias or herniae, from Latin, meaning 'rupture') is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ (anatomy), organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. The term is also used for the normal Devel ...

and during a back-surgery and a nerve was damaged.Een sportief gesprek in de Nieuwe meerbode, 17 November 2005
, Zwem-Mirjam, retrieved September 8, 2008 This left her with a form of

paraplegia Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neura ...

, hence she competes in the S6 classification. Swimming and

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is a style of basketball played using a sports wheelchair. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) is the governing body for this sport. It is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as ...

were her sports, but as wheelchair basketball caused a lot of injuries, she decided to mainly focus on swimming. She started to train five times a week with local swim team called Oceanus in

Aalsmeer Aalsmeer () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Its name is derived from the Dutch for eel (''aal'') and lake (''meer''). Aalsmeer is bordered by the Westeinderplassen lake, the largest open water o ...

. Not much later she was one of the fastest swimmers at her club, being able to keep up with swimmers without a disability. That year she swam seven Dutch national records in both 25 and 50 metres pools. In 2005, she was ready to take part in the Dutch national championships, but to participate she had to be a member of the national swimming association. Just a few days before the start she became a member and she won four gold medals, breaking all four Dutch national records as well as a European record. The national records were in the 50 m freestyle, 50 m butterfly and at the 100 m freestyle. The European record and thus fourth Dutch record she swam at the 50m backstroke.Kranten artikel van de amstelgids, Juli 2005
, Zwem-Mirjam, retrieved September 8, 2008 De Koning broke her first World Record at the Open Danish swimming championships in

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport city and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban area, urban population of 71,554 (1 January ...

, March 2006. She won seven medals at the Championships, of which four golds, one silver and two bronze as well as a new World Record at the 50m backstroke in a time of 45.46 seconds. She also broke another four Dutch national records.Wereldrecord voor Mirjam de Koning
, Zwem-Mirjam, retrieved September 8, 2008 She then qualified for the 2006 World Championships in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and she won two bronze medals. At the 100 m freestyle she swam a time of 1:22.50 and at the 100m backstroke she came to a time of 1:35.26 to take her second bronze. A few days later she became World Champion at the 50m freestyle after winning her race in 37.67 seconds to take her third medal of the Championships. At the 400m freestyle she finished in fourth place.17 December 2006
, Zwem-Mirjam, retrieved September 8, 2008 She represented the Netherlands at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

for a total of four events. At her first event, the 100m freestyle she won her first round heat in a time of 1:18.56, which was by far the best time of all finalists, with Eleanor Simmonds with 1:21.86 coming in second place.Beijing 2008: 100m freestyle series results
, beijing2008.cn, retrieved September 8, 2008 In the final Simmonds managed to improve her time to 1:18.75 while De Koning was only able to swim January 19, 2029 and take the silver, finishing still in front of Paralympic and World Record holder Doramitzi Gonzalez.Beijing 2008: 100m freestyle final results
, beijing2008.cn, retrieved September 8, 2008 Later in the week she beat Simmonds in the 50 m freestyle and came second behind Simmonds in the 400 freestyle. She also won a gold medal in the 100 m backstroke event.

Personal best times

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:de Koning, Mirjam 1969 births Living people Dutch female freestyle swimmers Paralympic swimmers for the Netherlands Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for the Netherlands Paralympic silver medalists for the Netherlands Paralympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands Swimmers from Amsterdam World record holders in paralympic swimming Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics S6-classified para swimmers Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Paralympic medalists in swimming Dutch female backstroke swimmers 20th-century Dutch sportswomen 21st-century Dutch sportswomen

Personal best times

See also

References

External links