Mark Hermanus Maria Veens (born 26 June 1978 in

Venray Venray or Venraij (; li, Venroj) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg, the Netherlands. The municipality of Venray consists of 14 towns over an area of , with 43,494 inhabitants as o ...

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

) is a

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 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 competed for his native country at three consequentive

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

, starting in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

as a member of the 4×100 m freestyle (fifth place). Veens' finest hour came at the

1998 European Short Course Swimming Championships The second edition of the European Short Course Swimming Championships was held in Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield, England, from 11 to 13 December 1998. A total number of 355 swimmers from 34 nations competed in these champio ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, where he ended up in second place in the 50 m freestyle. Half a year later, at the

1997 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 3rd FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) were an international swimming meet organized by FINA. It was held at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg, Sweden April 17−20, 1997; and featured 501 swimmers from 71 nations. Competing nations The 7 ...

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 ...

, he won the bronze medal in the 50 m freestyle.

References

Profile on Zwemkroniek

Dutch Olympic Committee
1978 births Living people Dutch male freestyle swimmers Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands Olympic swimmers of the Netherlands People from Venray World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in swimming Sportspeople from Limburg (Netherlands) {{Netherlands-swimming-bio-stub

See also

References