Merel Witteveen (born 12 May 1985, in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

) is a

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

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 ...

. Witteveen represented her country at 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 ...

Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

. With fellow crew member

Annemieke Bes Annemieke Marileen Bes (born 16 March 1978, in Groningen) is a sailor from the Netherlands, who represented her country for the first time at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. The Dutch Yngling helmed by Annelies Thies and crewed by Bes and Pe ...

and

Mandy Mulder Mandy Mulder (born 3 August 1987 in Poeldijk) is a sailor from the Netherlands. Mulder represented her country at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Qingdao. With fellow crew members Annemieke Bes and Merel Witteveen, Mulder as helmsman took Silver me ...

as helmsman, Witteveen took Silver medal in the

Yngling The Ynglings were a dynasty of kings, first in Sweden and later in Norway, primarily attested through the poem ''Ynglingatal''. The dynasty also appears as Scylfings (Old Norse ''Skilfingar'') in ''Beowulf''. When ''Beowulf'' and ''Ynglingatal'' ...

Sailing career

Witteveen started sailing in 1995 and competes in international level since 1999 where she started in the Optimist. After the European Championship 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 ...

she switched to the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Witteveen won a silver medal at the 2003 European Junior Championship. At the Open Week World Championships in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

she finished 9th and her next goal was to qualify for 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), ...

, but these came to early for Witteveen. After the 2004 Olympics the Europe was replaced by the

Laser Radial The Laser Radial or ILCA 6 is a popular one-design class of small sailing dinghy, originally built by Laser Performance. It is a singlehanded boat, meaning that it is sailed by one person. The Laser Radial is a variant of the Laser standard, w ...

Witteveen decided to make that change. She became second in the Olympic Sailing Week in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...

and at the 2005 European Championship also in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

she finished in 14th position. Due to a knee injury at the end of 2005 she was unable to sail in the 2006 season. However, in 2006 she became

bachelor A bachelor is a man who is not and has never been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". (). Etymo ...

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

and

Astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

. She also learned

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

and she traveled through

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. Witteveen was also a successful

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is di ...

as she and with her student teammates of

Nereus In Greek mythology, Nereus ( ; ) was the eldest son of Pontus (the Sea) and Gaia (the Earth), with Pontus himself being a son of Gaia. Nereus and Doris became the parents of 50 daughters (the Nereids) and a son ( Nerites), with whom Nereus liv ...

she won the rankings of first year students. She also won silver medals at the Henley Women's Regatta and the Head of the

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. Despite the successes in rowing and in the Laser Radial Witteveen decided to sail with

Lisa Westerhof Lisa Laetitia Westerhof (born 2 November 1981, in De Bilt) is a sailor from the Netherlands. Westerhof represented her country at the Optimist World Championship in 1995 and 1996, becoming only the second girl to win the championship outright. ...

in the 470 and aim for qualification for the

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 ...

. This did not turn out to be a success. In 2007 a team was formed of nine sailors, (among them were

, Merel Witteveen,

Renée Groeneveld Renée Groeneveld (born 21 September 1986 in Haarlem) is a sailor from the Netherlands. Groeneveld represented her country at the 2012 Summer Olympics in Weymouth. With fellow crew members Annemieke Bes and Marcelien Bos-de Koning, Groeneveld ...

Marije Faber Marije is a given name. Notable people with this name include: * Marije van Hunenstijn (born 1995), Dutch sprinter * Marije Joling (born 1987), Dutch female allround speed skater * Marije Tolman (born 1976), Dutch illustrator of children's liter ...

Marije Kampen Marije is a given name. Notable people with this name include: * Marije van Hunenstijn (born 1995), Dutch sprinter * Marije Joling (born 1987), Dutch female allround speed skater * Marije Tolman (born 1976), Dutch illustrator of children's liter ...

and Brechtje van der Werf), that aimed and qualify for the Olympics in the

. In July 2008 Dutch national coach Maurice Paardekooper selected Witteveen, Mulder and Bes as the trio that would sail the Dutch Yngling team at the 2008 Summer Olympics. The selected team became fourth at the World Championship in

Cascais Cascais () is a town and municipality in the Lisbon District of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The municipality has a total of 214,158 inhabitants in an area of 97.40 km2. Cascais is an important tourism in Portugal, tourist de ...

. Furthermore, they became second in

at the Pre-Olympics, fourth at the European Championship in

Warnemünde (, literally ''Mouth of the Warnow'') is a seaside resort and a district of the city of Rostock in Mecklenburg, Germany. It is located on the Baltic Sea and, as the name implies, at the estuary of the river Warnow. is one of the world's busie ...

in 2007. In 2008 there was a third place in the Olympic Class Regatta of

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

And a third place at the Europeans.

Professional life

Witteveen was a ''Fellow by

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...

(2012 – 2014)'' and is currently an MBA student at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Before that she developed, as intern, a Delft3D hydrodynamical model of the California coast for ''

Arcadis Arcadis NV is a global design, engineering and management consulting company based in the Zuidas, Amsterdam, Netherlands. It currently operates in excess of 350 offices across 40 countries. The company is a member of the Next 150 index. Arcadis ...

(2010)''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Witteveen, Merel 1985 births Living people Dutch female sailors (sport) Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in sailing Olympic sailors of the Netherlands Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands Sportspeople from Leiden Sailors at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Yngling

Sailing career

Professional life

Further reading

2008 Olympics (Qingdao)

References