Jan Stender (7 May 1906 – 20 October 1989) was a Dutch swimming coach. During the 1940s–1950s he raised at least eight world record holders who set more than 50 world records in total. In 1973, he was inducted to the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the s ...

Biography

Stender was born in

Zaandam Zaandam () is a city in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad, and received city rights in 1811. It is located on the river Zaan, just north of Amsterdam. The statistical district Zaand ...

. He spent his youth as an avid sportsman, practising swimming, football, cycling, running, boxing, skating and water polo. In 1931, he was a member of the water polo team ''De Dolfijn'' from Amsterdam that won the national championships, and as a result was selected into the national team. In 1937, he was employed as the coach of the swimming club of Hilversum. He soon became known for arduous fitness routines where significant time was spent out of the pool. His first success was the silver medal by Tonny Bijland in 200 m breaststroke at the 1939 national championships – the first medal in the history of the club. After World War II, he raised his first international star,

Nel van Vliet Petronella "Nel" van Vliet (17 January 1926 – 4 January 2006) was a breaststroke swimmer from the Netherlands. She won gold medals in the 200 m breaststroke at the 1947 European Aquatics Championships and 1948 Summer Olympics. In 197 ...

, a European (1947) and Olympic (1948) gold medalist who set 13 world records in 1946–1947. Instead of searching for talents country wide, Stender tried to develop them in every athlete, and was said to be able "to teach a piece of iron to swim" ( nl, een stuk ijzer kon leren zwemmen). By 1955, he produced eight world record holders from girls living nearby in Hilversum, a town of fewer than 100,000 people. His pupils by then included

, Mary Kok, Geertje Wielema, Hannie Termeulen,

Lenie de Nijs Helena Elisabeth "Lenie" de Nijs (April 1939 – 22 January 2023) was a Dutch swimmer. In July-August 1955 she broke three freestyle world records over 1500 m, 880 yd and 1760 yd distances. She then changed to backstroke, winning three national ...

, Judith de Nijs,

Atie Voorbij Aartje Johanna "Atie" Voorbij (born 20 September 1940) is a retired Dutch butterfly swimmer who won a gold medal in the 4×100 m medley team event (together with Ada den Haan, Cocky Gastelaars and Lenie de Nijs) at the 1958 European Aquatics C ...

, Greetje Kraan,

Ineke Tigelaar Willemina Hendrika "Ineke" Tigelaar (born 9 October 1945) is a Dutch former freestyle swimmer who competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics. She won four medals at the 1962 European Aquatics Championships The 1962 European Aquatics Championships we ...

, Rita Tigelaar, Rita Kroon and Herman Willemse.Luit, 64–65 However, the next year brought him a great upset: none of them could compete in the 1956 Summer Olympics because of its boycott by the Dutch government. In 1973, at the age 67, Stender was inducted to the

. He celebrated this event by running 20 times around the Hall of Fame campus (ca. 7 miles). During those years he was still swimming, spending an hour in a gym and running 13 km daily.

References

Bibliography

*Jan-Bram van Luit
Op het gift der tweespalt glorieerde de zwemsport in Hilversum
HHT-EP 2009/2, pp. 56–66 (in Dutch) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stender, Gerard 1906 births 1989 deaths Dutch swimming coaches Dutch male water polo players Sportspeople from Zaanstad 20th-century Dutch people

Biography

See also

References

Bibliography