Marlou van der Kulk (born 9 September 1993) is a Dutch Paralympic

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 ...

. She competed in the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

in London, winning two bronze medals. Van der Kulk has also competed in two IPC Swimming World Championships winning four gold medals.

Career history

Van der Kulk was born on the 9 September 1993 in

Huizen Huizen () is a municipality and a village in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. The name "Huizen" is Dutch for "houses" and this usage has been linked to the belief that the first stone houses, instead of the more common sod houses a ...

, Netherlands. She started swimming at the age of 12, and began competitive swimming while still in high school. Classified as an S14 swimmer, for athletes with an intellectual impairment, she was part of the Netherlands team chosen to compete on home soil at

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,2010 IPC Swimming World Championships The 2010 IPC Swimming World Championships was an international swimming competition, the biggest meet for athletes with a disability since the 2008 Summer Paralympics. It was held in Eindhoven, Netherlands and lasted from 14 to 21 August. Venue ...

. Entered in her favoured 100m backstroke and 200m freestyle, she took both events making her a double gold medal world champion at the age of 16. Jessica-Jane Applegate with her gold medal in the S14 200m Freestyle

Jessica-Jane Applegate with her gold medal in the S14 200m Freestyle

Two years later van der Kulk was back representing the Netherlands, this time in London for the

. In her first event, the 100m backstroke, she posted a time of 1:09.98, coming in second to Britain's

Chloe Davies Chloe Davies (born 15 December 1998) is a British Paralympic swimmer. Davies competes in S14 events mainly freestyle, backstroke and medley preferring shorter distances. She qualified for the 2012 Summer Paralympics becoming Great Britain's youn ...

, but her time was good enough for her to qualify for the final. In the final later that evening she swam an improved time of 1:09.50 just 4 hundredths of a second behind second placed

Taylor Corry Taylor Corry (born 31 January 1995) is an Australian S14 swimmer. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics, she won two silver medals. Personal Corry was born on 31 January 1995, and grew up in Anna Bay, New South Wales. She has an intellectual disabi ...

, to give van der Kulk the bronze, her first Paralympic medal. Two days later in the 200m freestyle she won her heat with a time of 2:14.43. In the final van der Kulk swam slightly slower with a time of 2:14.80, but it was enough to push Australia's

Kayla Clarke Kayla Clarke (born 6 August 1991) is an Indigenous Australian swimmer who represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in swimming, and has medalled at the 2010 Australian Disability Age Group Nationals, and 2010 International Paralymp ...

into fourth place to give van der Kulk her second Paralympic bronze. Her final event was the 100m breaststroke. By winning the first heat in the inaugural SB14 100m backstroke, van der Kulk, by default, set a new Paralympic record. This record was short-lived being taken from her moments later in the second heat by teammate Magda Toeters. In the final, van der Kulk came sixth. In her second World Championships, in 2013 in Montreal she entered four events. She took two medals, both gold. She retained her 100m backstroke title won in Eindhoven and also won the 200m medley, but she could only manage a fourth in the 200m freestyle.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kulk, Marlou van der 1993 births Living people Dutch female backstroke swimmers Dutch female breaststroke swimmers Dutch female freestyle swimmers Paralympic swimmers for the Netherlands Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands People from Huizen Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics S14-classified para swimmers Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Medalists at the World Para Swimming European Championships Paralympic medalists in swimming Sportspeople from North Holland 21st-century Dutch women