Hetty Balkenende (also spelled Hettie, born 1939) is a former

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...

swimmer and synchronized swimmer 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 won a silver medal in the 4×100 m freestyle relay at the

1954 European Aquatics Championships The 1954 LEN European Aquatics Championships were held 31 August – 5 September in Turin, Italy. In swimming, butterfly events were contested for the first time; 100 m for women and 200 m for men. Medal table Medal summary Diving ;Men's events ...

. In 1955, she helped the Dutch team to set the world record in the same event; she also won two national titles (100 m and 400 m freestyle), broke two national records in the 400 m freestyle, and the world record on the 880 yards – all in one year.Miss Crapp After Record
The Age, January 3, 1956 She was selected for the Dutch Olympic team, but the Netherlands boycotted the 1956 Summer Olympics in protest over the Soviet handling of the Hungarian uprising, so that Balkenende missed the opportunity to acquire an Olympic medal. After retiring from competitive swimming she switched to synchronized swimming and became the unofficial European champion at the 1963 European Championships for all three routines (solo, pair, and technical). She married Jens Svensson on 15 April 1967. As a Norwegian, Hetty Svensson-Balkenende won the national and Scandinavian/Nordic championships synchronized swimming in 1970.Ny dansk sejr i nordisk synkro-landskamp
Svømmesport, Jujne 1970

References

1939 births Living people Dutch female freestyle swimmers Dutch synchronized swimmers European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming World record setters in swimming Swimmers from Amsterdam 20th-century Dutch women 20th-century Dutch people {{Netherlands-swimming-bio-stub