Chantal Groot (born 19 October 1982) is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

and freestyle

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 ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, who has represented her country in many international championships since 1999. The best distance of Chantal Groot is the 50 m butterfly in which she won five European LC Championships medals, for the first time in 1999 in Istanbul, and became European Champion in 2008 in Eindhoven.

Swimming career

After winning a gold and a silver medal at the European Junior Swimming Championships 1998 in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

she made her international debut at the 1999 FINA Short Course World Championships in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. Groot immediately won her first international medal, a silver, in the 4×100 m freestyle relay together with

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 ...

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 a ...

and

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 ...

. Individually she finished 14th in the 100 m butterfly. A few months later she competed in the

1999 European Aquatics Championships 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 ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. In the 50 m butterfly she won her first individual medal, at the age of 17, reaching third place behind

Anna-Karin Kammerling Anna-Karin Kammerling (born 19 October 1980) is a world-record breaking Swedish former swimmer, who was born in Malmö, Sweden. Kammerling has twice lowered the world record in the 50-meter butterfly event. In 2000, she was a member of the 4× ...

and Johanna Sjöberg. Chantal also reached the final of the 50 m freestyle ending up 7th. In the 4×100 m freestyle she finished fourth with the team.

2000

In 2000, she competed in the 2000 FINA Short Course World Championships in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

where an 11th place in the 50 m butterfly was her best result. At the 2000 European Aquatics Championships in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

she was in the finals of all three relay events but did not won a medal. Individually a 7th place in the 100 m butterfly was her best performance. Groot was also selected to take part in 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 Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. She swam in the heats of the 4×100 m freestyle but was replaced for the final by Inge de Bruijn, but still received a silver medal for her efforts in the heats. Individually she reached the semi-finals of the 100 m butterfly ending up 11th. In the two other relays there was no success.

Post Sydney Olympics

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, ...

and the 2002 FINA Short Course World Championships were not successful for Groot. At the 2002 European Aquatics Championships in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

she won a bronze medal in the 50 m butterfly. She won also a bronze medal in the 4×100 m freestyle relay together with Manon van Rooijen,

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

. In December 2002 she won two bronze medals at 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 is the second most ...

in the 4×50 m freestyle and 4×50 m medley relay. In 2003, she started 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 ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern 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 ci ...

where she finished 4th in the 4×100 m freestyle, 5th in the 50 m butterfly and 6th with the medley relay. In

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

in December she won the gold medal in the 4×50 m freestyle and the bronze medal in the 4×50 m medley relay at the

European Short Course Swimming Championships 2003 The European SC (Short Course) Swimming Championships 2003 were held in the National Aquatic Centre in Blanchardstown, Fingal between 11 and 14 December. Medal table Men's events Final 50 m freestyle Final 100 m freestyle Final 200 m fre ...

Road to Athens/2004 Olympics

2004 started for Groot with the 2004 European Aquatics Championships in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

where she achieved to win three medals, silver in the 4×100 m freestyle alongside

Inge Dekker Inge Dekker (born 18 August 1985) is a Dutch former competitive swimmer who specialised in butterfly and freestyle events. She won the bronze medal with the Dutch women's 4×100-metre freestyle relay team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, ...

Annabel Kosten Annabel Kosten (born 23 May 1977) is a retired freestyle swimmer from the Netherlands, who won the bronze medal with the Dutch women's 4×100 m freestyle relay team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Career Kosten made her in ...

and Marleen Veldhuis. There was a bronze medal in the 50 m butterfly and another bronze in the 4×100 m medley together with Stefanie Luiken,

Madelon Baans Madelon Baans (born 8 October 1977 in Rotterdam) is a retired female breaststroke swimmer from the Netherlands, who competed for her native country in three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia. She made her last ...

and Marleen Veldhuis. After this tournament she prepared to compete at 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), ...

Athens, Greece Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, where she was on the team that captured the bronze medal in the 4×100 m freestyle relay, alongside

, and

2004 post-Olympic tournaments

Two months after the Olympics she competed in the 2004 FINA Short Course World Championships in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

. During this tournament she ended 7th in both 100 m butterfly and 100 m freestyle. In December she captured her second European title in the 4×50 m freestyle relay at the

European Short Course Swimming Championships 2004 The 8th European Short Course Swimming Championships was an international swimming meet organized by LEN Len or LEN may refer to: People and fictional characters * Len (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lén, a character ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and finished 7th again in the 100 m freestyle.

2005-2007

2005 wasn't a fantastic for Groot with a 4th place in the 4×100 m freestyle and 9th in the 50 m butterfly during the

2005 World Aquatics Championships The 2005 World Aquatics Championships (french: Championnats du monde de natation 2005) or the XI FINA World Championships were held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from July 16 to July 31, 2005. They took place in Parc Jean-Drapeau on Saint Helen's I ...

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...

, Canada. At the end of the year she won the gold medal for the third time in a row in the 4×50 m freestyle at the

European Short Course Swimming Championships 2005 The European Short Course Championships 2005 were held in Trieste, Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterrane ...

. 2006 started off with the 2006 FINA Short Course World Championships in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

. Together with Inge Dekker,

Hinkelien Schreuder Hinkelien Schreuder (born 13 February 1984) is a former butterfly, freestyle and backstroke swimmer from The Netherlands, who also competed in the medley events. Schreuder won the Olympic gold medal in the 4×100 freestyle relay at the 2008 Olym ...

and Marleen Veldhuis, Groot set a world record and won a gold medal in the 4×100 m freestyle relay in a time of 3:33.32. In the summer she took part 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 2006 ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

where she added a silver medal, in the 4×100 m freestyle with Dekker, Veldhuis and

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 free ...

, and a bronze medal, fourth time in her career, in the 50 m butterfly to her impressive collection of medals. In

she won a silver medal in the 4×50 m freestyle 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 eve ...

. Her next big tournament was 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/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

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 ...

where she was swum out of the 4×100 m freestyle team by teammate

Femke Heemskerk Frederike Johanna Maria "Femke" Heemskerk (; born 21 September 1987) is a former Dutch competitive swimmerEuropean 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 13–16 December 2007 in Debrecen, Hungary. The championships were swum in the Debrecen Swimming Pool Complex, i ...

was her best result of a disappointing year.

2008

In March 2008 Groot competed in her home country at the 2008 European Aquatics Championships where she finally became European Champion in the 50 m butterfly beating teammate Inge Dekker in the final, after having won the bronze medal four times in this event. In the 100 m butterfly she finished up 5th and qualified for the

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 ...

. She started in the heats of the 4×100 m freestyle and 4×100 m medley but was replaced for the finals each time. In the second week of April she participated in the

2008 FINA Short Course World Championships The 9th FINA Swimming World Championships (25 m) were held at the Manchester Arena, in Manchester, England, Manchester, United Kingdom 9–13 April 2008. The United States topped the medal table with 10 gold medals, though host team Great Brita ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. She started individually in the 100 m butterfly and reached a 6th place. She also swam in the heats of the 4×100 m medley but was replaced in the final by Inge Dekker. The Olympic Games in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

were a disappointment because she ended 30th in the 100 m butterfly.

Personal bests

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Groot, Chantal 1982 births Living people Dutch female freestyle swimmers Dutch female butterfly swimmers Olympic swimmers of the Netherlands Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands Olympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands Swimmers from Amsterdam World record setters in swimming Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in swimming 21st-century Dutch women