Maria Martina "Ria" van Velsen (born 22 March 1943 in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...

) is a retired

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

backstroke swimmer who participated in the

1960 It is also known as the " Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * J ...

and 1964 Summer Olympics. In 1960, she was sevenths individually in the 100m backstroke event. She was also part of the Dutch medley team that broke the 4 × 100 m medley Olympic record in the preliminaries; however, they finished fourth in the final. She also won two medals at the

1962 European Aquatics Championships The 1962 European Aquatics Championships were held in Leipzig, East Germany from 18 to 25 August 1962. Titles were contested in swimming, diving and water polo (men). In the men's swimming program, the 100 m backstroke had been replaced by the ...

, and set four world records: three in 100m backstroke (1958, 1959, 1960) and one in the 4 × 100 m medley relay (1964).A Roundup Of The Sports Information Of The Week
sportsillustrated.cnn.com (1964-07-06).

References

1943 births Living people Dutch female backstroke swimmers Olympic swimmers for the Netherlands Swimmers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Swimmers from The Hague European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming {{Netherlands-swimming-bio-stub