Pieter-Jan Postma (born 10 January 1982 in

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, ) is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the m ...

) is a

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

from the Netherlands and Olympic coach. He represented the Netherlands three times at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

and is a multiple National, European and World Champion. Postma starts sailing in an

Optimist Optimism is the attitude or mindset of expecting events to lead to particularly positive, favorable, desirable, and hopeful outcomes. A common idiom used to illustrate optimism versus pessimism is a glass filled with water to the halfway poin ...

when he is seven years old. He graduated as a Maritime Officer and Technical Business Administration before participating in the 2008

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 ...

. During these games, Pieter-Jan Postma is 26 and takes fourteenth place. During the Olympic Games in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

he reached the fourth place. He also participates in the Olympic Games in

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and reaches the tenth place. He is a member of the Royal Water Sports Association Sneek.

Personal life

Postma spent the first seventeen years of his life in Terkaple, a tiny village in

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

. He has a sister who is four years older and a sister who is two years younger. As a child, he spent a lot of time playing different sports:

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

speed skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long-track speed skating, short-track speed skating, and marathon speed skat ...

, and

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

. After secondary school, Postma started a study for

Naval Officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent ...

Terschelling Terschelling (; ; Terschelling dialect: ''Schylge'') is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and an island in the northern Netherlands, one of the West Frisian Islands. It is situated between the islands of Vlieland and Ameland. ...

in 2000, which he completed in 2005. From then on Postma focuses entirely on his sailing career. In 2010 he takes a break from sailing and completes his studies in Industrial Engineering and Management in Leeuwarden. Postma currently lives in Friesland.

Sailing career

Highlights

Early sailing career

At the age of thirteen, Postma participates in his first European Championship

and at the age of fifteen he sailed at the World Championship 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 ...

. In 1998, at the age of sixteen, Postma switched to the

Laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word ''laser'' originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radi ...

and, just like in 1999 and 2000, again sails at the World Cup. In 2000 he participates in the ISAF World Championship in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. He reaches 10th place. After returning from his internship at sea, Postma started preparing for the

2004 Olympic Games 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 ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. Postma wins the national selection, but misses the Olympic qualification. In 2004 he became Dutch Laser champion for the first time.

Adult sailing career

In 2005 he made the switch to the Finn class. In this phase of his sailing career, Postma is in search how to fully utilize his potential and is on the look for the right rhythm and suitable partners. This quest provides him with a strong foundation to enter the big competitions that are upcoming in these days. He qualified three times for the Olympic Games (2008, 2012 and 2016) and achieved good results during the Pre-Olympics: he won silver twice (2007 and 2015) and bronze once (2011). This makes Postma a favorite for the stage. However, Postma did not manage to gain a medal; in 2016 he lost his golden medal at the last buoy and eventually finished fourth. He also returns home without a medal at the other Olympic Games. Postma does win many titles at World Cups, European Championships, National Championships and World Cups. In 2000, 2007 and 2011 he won silver at the World Cup, in 2013, 2016, 2018 and 2019 bronze at the World Cup. In 2022 he won gold twice at the World Cup and at the European Championship in 2016 he won the gold medal. In addition, Postma became Dutch Champion eleven times and won a World Cup six times. Postma's sailing career is characterized by continuous development and innovation. This ultimately brings him the gold medal at the 2022 World Cup. It also gives him a strong foundation for being a coach after his sailing career in the Finn class.

Coaching

Since 2019, Postma has been working as a coach in the sailing world. In 2020 and 2021 he was coach of the Dutch Sail team that sails in the 69F. With the 69F, the team led by Postma wins the Gold Cup in 2020 and 2021. Next to these medals the team wins eight other events. In 2019 he coached the Hungarian Zsombor Berecz, who qualified for the Olympic Games (Finn class) under the leadership of Postma and won bronze at the World Cup. Postma also coached the Turkish yacht racer Alican Kaynar who wins the Olympic Games (Finn class).

Sailing projects

In 2016, Postma founded Sailing Team NL with the aim of stimulating more cooperation in the Dutch sailing world. He uses his experiences as a professional sailor. As part of this project, he purchased two M32s in 2017 and competed worldwide with a match-race team. In 2018, as race director and manager, he organized several events around this project, many of which were located in Valencia. With the M32 the European series were won in 2018, in 2019 the round of Texel was won. In 2020, Postma continues these collaborative projects. He invites Sailing Holland, Dutch Sail and the water sports association to work together on Youth America's Cup. This project is growing into a project in which the 69F is sailed.

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Postma, Pieter-Jan Living people 1982 births Sportspeople from Heerenveen Dutch male sailors (sport) Sailors at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Finn Sailors at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Finn Sailors at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Finn Olympic sailors for the Netherlands Finn masters world champions World champions in sailing for the Netherlands Laser Radial class sailors Laser class sailors Finn class sailors