Mike van der Zanden (born 9 March 1987 in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...

) is a Dutch

paraplegic Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neural ...

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 ...

.Athlete biography: Mike van der Zanden
, beijing2008.cn, ret: Sep 08, 2008 Van der Zanden represented the Netherlands at the 2004 and

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

. In Athens he won the bronze medal at the 100 m freestyle in the S10 class.Mike van der Zanden at Wereld van Oranje
wereldvanoranje.nl, ret: Sep 8, 2008 Four years later in Beijing he finished second in his qualification heat at the 100m butterfly behind David Julian Levecq. His time of 59.97 seconds was the fourth time overall and he qualified for the final.Beijing 2008: 100m butterfly series results
, beijing2008.cn, ret: Sep 8, 2008 In the final Andre Brasil from

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

swam a new

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

of 56.47 seconds, but Van der Zanden improved his time to 59.39 seconds, again behind Levocq, but in front of

Benoît Huot Benoit Huot (born January 24, 1984) is a Canadian Paralympic swimmer, who has won nine Paralympic Games gold medals for Canada, primarily in the freestyle and butterfly strokes. Hailing from Longueuil, Quebec, Huot was born with club feet, star ...

to win his second Paralympic bronze medal.Beijing 2008: 100m butterfly final results
, beijing2008.cn, ret: Sep 8, 2008

References

1987 births Living people Dutch male butterfly swimmers Dutch male freestyle swimmers Paralympic swimmers of the Netherlands Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Paralympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands Sportspeople from Tilburg Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics S10-classified Paralympic swimmers Medalists at the World Para Swimming European Championships Paralympic medalists in swimming {{Netherlands-Paralympic-medalist-stub