Magdalena Johanna Maria "Marleen" Veldhuis (born 29 June 1979) is a retired

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. She was

world record holder In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

in four events (one individual event and three relay events). Veldhuis won eight world championships gold medals and 20 European championships gold medals. In the Olympics, she won a bronze medal in London 2012 in the 50 m freestyle, as well as three relay medals: bronze in Athens 2004, gold in Beijing 2008, and silver in London 2012.

Personal life

Veldhuis was born on 29 June 1979 in Borne in the Netherlands. She was brought up in the eastern part of the Netherlands. Veldhuis had a daughter in June 2010, causing her to miss the

2010 European Aquatics Championships The 2010 European Aquatics Championships were held from 4–15 August 2010 in Budapest and Balatonfüred, Hungary. It was the fourth time that the city of Budapest hosts this event after 1926, 1958 and 2006. Events in swimming, diving, synchroni ...

, and she returned to swimming for the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

Swimming career

Marleen Veldhuis is a former

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

player which she combined with swimming. After she decided to focus completely on swimming, Veldhuis made her international debut during the 2002 European Aquatics Championships in Berlin, at the relatively late age of 23, where she won a bronze medal in the 4×100 m freestyle as part of a team with Manon van Rooijen,

Chantal Groot Chantal Groot (born 19 October 1982) is a butterfly and freestyle swimmer from the Netherlands, who has represented her country in many international championships since 1999. The best distance of Chantal Groot is the 50 m butterfly in which ...

and

Wilma van Hofwegen Willemina ("Wilma") Cornelia Adriana van Rijn-van Hofwegen (born 17 July 1971) is a former freestyle swimmer from the Netherlands, who was a member of the Dutch Women's 4×100 m freestyle relay Team that won the silver medal at ...

. At the end of the year, she competed in

Riesa Riesa is a town in the district of Meißen in Saxony, Germany. It is located on the river Elbe, approximately northwest of Dresden. History The name ''Riesa'' is derived from Slavic ''Riezowe''. This name, romanised as "Rezoa", appears first i ...

for the

European Short Course Swimming Championships 2002 The sixth edition of the European Short Course Swimming Championships (25 m) was held in the SachsenArena in Riesa, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most ...

. There she won bronze medals in both relays, 4×50 m freestyle and 4×50 m medley.

Breakthrough

In April 2003 she joined Topzwemmen Amsterdam (TZA) to train as a full-time professional under the guidance of Fedor Hes. At the

2003 World Aquatics Championships The 10th FINA World Aquatics Championships were held July 12–27, 2003 in Barcelona, Spain. The championships featured competition in all 5 of FINA's disciplines: Swimming, Diving, Synchronised swimming, Water Polo, and Open Water Swimming. C ...

it turned out to be a great decision as she reached two individual finals in the 50 m freestyle ending 7th, and in the 100 m freestyle finishing 8th. In

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

she also reached the final in all relay events but did not win a medal. In December she participated in the

European Short Course Swimming Championships 2003 The European SC (Short Course) Swimming Championships 2003 were held in the National Aquatic Centre in Blanchardstown, Fingal between 11 and 14 December. Medal table Men's events Final 50 m freestyle Final 100 m freestyle Final 200 m fre ...

where she won her first international titles in the 50 m freestyle and the 4×50 m freestyle. In

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

she also won silver in the 100 m freestyle and bronze in the 4×50 m medley. 2004 started off with the

2004 European Aquatics Championships The 2004 LEN European Championships were held in Madrid, Spain from 5–16 May, at the M86 Swimming Center in the southeast of the city. The championships brought together the European Championships in swimming (long course), open water swimmi ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. There Veldhuis won two silver medals in the 4×100 m freestyle, together with Chantal Groot,

Annabel Kosten Annabel Kosten (born 23 May 1977) is a retired freestyle swimmer from the Netherlands, who won the bronze medal with the Dutch women's 4×100 m freestyle relay team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Career Kosten made her in ...

and

Inge Dekker Inge Dekker (born 18 August 1985) is a Dutch former competitive swimmer who specialised in butterfly and freestyle events. She won the bronze medal with the Dutch women's 4×100-metre freestyle relay team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, ...

, and individually in the 100 m freestyle. At the end of the week there was a bronze medal in the 4×100 m medley relay alongside Stefanie Luiken,

Madelon Baans Madelon Baans (born 8 October 1977 in Rotterdam) is a retired female breaststroke swimmer from the Netherlands, who competed for her native country in three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia. She made her last ...

and Chantal Groot.

2004 Olympics

At 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), ...

Veldhuis made her Olympic debut at the age of 25 and won the bronze medal in the 4×100 m freestyle, together with

Inge de Bruijn Inge de Bruijn (; born 24 August 1973) is a Dutch former competitive swimmer. She is a four-time Olympic champion and a former world record-holder. Personal De Bruijn was born in Barendrecht, Netherlands. Inge is the sister of Olympic water ...

and

. Her individual results at the Olympics were slightly disappointing with the 9th place in the 50 m freestyle and the 11th place in the 100 m freestyle. She was the anchor lady in the 4×100 m medley, she took over from de Bruijn who swam the butterfly leg, finishing 6th. At the end of 2004 she became Amsterdam Sportswoman of the year.

Post-Athens season

In October 2004 she avenged her failed individual Olympic campaign by winning the gold medal in the 50 m freestyle at the

2004 FINA Short Course World Championships The 7th FINA Short Course World Championships were held at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States from October 7 through October 11, 2004. Results Freestyle Backstroke Breaststroke Butterfly Medley Medal table ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

by beating

Libby Lenton Lisbeth Constance Trickett, OAM (; born 28 January 1985) is a retired Australian swimmer. She was a gold medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics, the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was the world record holder in the shor ...

from Australia and

Therese Alshammar Malin Therese Alshammar (born 26 August 1977) is a Swedish swimmer who has won three Olympic medals, 25 World Championship medals, and 43 European Championship medals. She is a specialist in short distances races in freestyle and butterfly. She ...

from Sweden. In the 100 m freestyle she received a bronze medal behind Lenton and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Josefin Lillhage Josefin Lillhage (born 15 March 1980) is a former swimmer from Sweden, who won the bronze medal in the 200 m freestyle at the 2005 World Aquatics Championships in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She competed in four Olympiads: in 1996, 2000, 200 ...

. In December she successfully defended her 50 m freestyle at the

European Short Course Swimming Championships 2004 The 8th European Short Course Swimming Championships was an international swimming meet organized by LEN Len or LEN may refer to: People and fictional characters * Len (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lén, a character ...

. In

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

she also won gold in both 4×50 m freestyle and 4×50 m medley, there was a silver medal for Veldhuis in the 100 m freestyle behind French

Malia Metella Malia Metella (born 23 February 1982 in Cayenne, French Guiana)2005 World Aquatics Championships The 2005 World Aquatics Championships (french: Championnats du monde de natation 2005) or the XI FINA World Championships were held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from July 16 to July 31, 2005. They took place in Parc Jean-Drapeau on Saint Helen's I ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, which was the only medal for her country during these World Championships. The

European Short Course Swimming Championships 2005 The European Short Course Championships 2005 were held in Trieste, Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterrane ...

were very successful for Veldhuis. In

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

she defended all her titles from the year before, but now she won also the gold medal in the 100 m freestyle.

2006

In April 2006 alongside Chantal Groot,

Hinkelien Schreuder Hinkelien Schreuder (born 13 February 1984) is a former butterfly, freestyle and backstroke swimmer from The Netherlands, who also competed in the medley events. Schreuder won the Olympic gold medal in the 4×100 freestyle relay at the 2008 Olym ...

and Inge Dekker, Veldhuis set a world record and won the gold medal in the 4×100 m freestyle relay at the

2006 FINA Short Course World Championships The 8th FINA World Swimming Championships ( 25 m) swam April 5–9, 2006 at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena in Shanghai, China Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities o ...

. She failed to defend her 50 m freestyle title ending third. She finished second behind long-time rival Libby Lenton in the 100 m freestyle. In the summer she competed in the

2006 European Aquatics Championships The 2006 European Swimming Championships were held in Budapest, Hungary, from 26 July – 6 August 2006. Disciplines include swimming, diving, synchronised swimming (synchro) and open water swimming. European Water Polo Championships for 2006 ...

, in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, Hungary where she ended second in the 100 m freestyle, behind German's

Britta Steffen Britta Steffen (; born 16 November 1983) is a German competitive swimmer who specializes in freestyle sprint events. Biography In 1999, Steffen won six titles at the European Junior Championships, and won a medal as a member of Germany's rel ...

who broke the world record, and third in the 50 m freestyle. In the 4×100 m freestyle relay she received a silver medal together with Chantal Groot, Inge Dekker and newcomer

Ranomi Kromowidjojo Ranomi Kromowidjojo (; born 20 August 1990) is a retired Dutch swimmer of mixed Dutch-Javanese Surinamese origin who mainly specialises in sprint freestyle events. She is a triple Olympic champion, winning the gold medal in the 4 × 100 m frees ...

. After these Championships she split up with her coach, Fedor Hes, and started to work with

Jacco Verhaeren Jacco Verhaeren (born April 4, 1969 in Rijsbergen) is a Dutch swimming coach and manager. He is best known for guiding Pieter van den Hoogenband, Inge de Bruijn, and Ranomi Kromowidjojo to multiple Olympic gold medals, and for leading significant ...

, who at the time was also working with triple Olympic champion

Pieter van den Hoogenband Pieter Cornelis Martijn van den Hoogenband (; born 14 March 1978) is a Dutch retired swimmer. He is a triple Olympic champion and former world record holder. Early life Born in Maastricht, Limburg, he is the son of Cees-Rein van den Hoogenband ...

. In

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

she successfully defended her 50 m and 100 m freestyle titles at the

European Short Course Swimming Championships 2006 The European Short Course Swimming Championships 2006 were held in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, from Thursday 7 to Sunday 10 December. The venue of the event was the aquatic center of Mäkelänrinteen uintikeskus, which last hosted a major eve ...

, but lost her relay titles when her team ended second in the 4×50 m freestyle and did not start in the 4×50 m medley. Just before this championships she had bettered

Annemarie Verstappen Anna Maria Theodora Petra "Annemarie" Verstappen (born 3 October 1965, in Rosmalen) is a female former freestyle swimmer from the Netherlands. Swimming career Verstappen won a total number of three medals at the 1984 Summe ...

's long standing 200 m freestyle national record.

2007

In the spring of 2007 she took part in the

2007 World Aquatics Championships The 2007 World Aquatics Championships, or the XII FINA World Championships, were held in Melbourne, Australia from 17 March to 1 April 2007. The competition took place at three locations in central Melbourne: the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic C ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia. There she won the silver medal behind Libby Lenton. Veldhuis won the bronze medal in the 50 m freestyle despite being the favourite before the final. Alongside Inge Dekker, Ranomi Kromowidjojo, and another young talent

Femke Heemskerk Frederike Johanna Maria "Femke" Heemskerk (; born 21 September 1987) is a former Dutch competitive swimmer2007 FINA Swimming World Cup The 2007 FINA Swimming World Cup occurred in autumn 2007. It was an international series of short course (25m) swimming competitions organised by FINA. The 2007 edition marked a return to all World Cup meets being held in the same year for a given ...

series, Veldhuis broke Swede

's 50 m freestyle world record. Alshammar's world record had stood at 23.59 since March 2000. The new standard is 23.58 seconds. One month later she qualified for the Beijing Olympics with personal bests in the 50 and 100 m freestyle during the Dutch Open Swim Cup 2007 and competed at the

European Short Course Swimming Championships 2007 The 2007 European Short Course Swimming Championships, which was the 15th edition of the continental swimming event, were held between 13–16 December 2007 in Debrecen, Hungary. The championships were swum in the Debrecen Swimming Pool Complex, i ...

. In

Debrecen Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and i ...

she won the 50 m freestyle for the fifth time in a row but lost her 100 m freestyle title to Britta Steffen due to a bad turn, finishing second. She also won gold in the 4×50 m freestyle. A few days after the tournament she was elected Dutch Sportswoman of the Year.

Spring 2008

In March 2008 at the

2008 European Aquatics Championships The 2008 LEN European Aquatics Championships were held in Eindhoven, Netherlands, from 13–24 March 2008. They were the European championships for swimming (50 m), diving and synchronised swimming for 2008. Two new events were contested: ...

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,Inge de Bruijn Inge de Bruijn (; born 24 August 1973) is a Dutch former competitive swimmer. She is a four-time Olympic champion and a former world record-holder. Personal De Bruijn was born in Barendrecht, Netherlands. Inge is the sister of Olympic water ...

with a time of 24.09. She also broke the 4×100 m freestyle relay world record, together with Inge Dekker, Ranomi Kromowidjojo and Femke Heemskerk, and won the gold medal. The new standard was 3:33.62. Veldhuis also won a bronze medal in 4×100 m medley alongside

, Jolijn van Valkengoed and Inge Dekker. In April's

2008 FINA Short Course World Championships The 9th FINA Swimming World Championships (25 m) were held at the Manchester Arena, in Manchester, England, Manchester, United Kingdom 9–13 April 2008. The United States topped the medal table with 10 gold medals, though host team Great Brita ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Veldhuis won four gold medals. Individually in the 50 m freestyle, lowering her own world record to 23.25, and the 100 m freestyle beating home favourite

Francesca Halsall Francesca Jean Halsall (born 12 April 1990) is a retired English competitive swimmer who has represented Great Britain at the Olympics, FINA world championships, and European championships, and England at the Commonwealth Games. She competed ...

. Furthermore, she won gold in the 4×200 m freestyle with Dekker, Heemskerk and Kromowidjojo, bettering the world record. With Hinkelien Schreuder replacing Kromowidjojo, the Dutch team also lowered their own world record in the 4×100 m freestyle.

2008 Summer Olympics

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 ...

she won the gold medal in the 4×100 m freestyle relay together with

and

Femke Heemskerk Frederike Johanna Maria "Femke" Heemskerk (; born 21 September 1987) is a former Dutch competitive swimmer2009 World Aquatics Championships The 2009 World Aquatics Championships ( it, Campionati mondiali di nuoto 2009) or the XIII FINA World Championships were held in Rome, Italy from 18 July to 2 August 2009. The 2009 Championships featured competition in all 5 aquatics disciplines ...

, for the 50 m and 100 m freestyle she had already qualified at the Olympics. The next week, she won four gold medals at the

European Short Course Swimming Championships 2008 The European Short Course Swimming Championships 2008 took place in Rijeka, Croatia from Thursday 11 to Sunday 14 December 2008. Medal table Medal summary Legend: * WR = World record * ER = European record * CR = Championships record Men's ...

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

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 ...

, in the 50 m and 100 m freestyle and 4×50 m freestyle and 4×50 m medley. In the 100 m freestyle she lowered her own European record during the heats, she also finished fourth in the 100 m butterfly.

2009

During the Amsterdam Swim Cup Veldhuis broke the 50 metre butterfly world record and 50 metre freestyle world record on the same day. At the

2009 World Aquatics Championships The 2009 World Aquatics Championships ( it, Campionati mondiali di nuoto 2009) or the XIII FINA World Championships were held in Rome, Italy from 18 July to 2 August 2009. The 2009 Championships featured competition in all 5 aquatics disciplines ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

she won the gold medal in the 4×100 m freestyle alongside Inge Dekker, Ranomi Kromowidjojo and Femke Heemskerk.

2011

In 2011 Veldhuis won a gold medal at the

2011 World Aquatics Championships The 14th FINA World Championships () were held on 16–31 July 2011 in Shanghai, China at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center. The 2011 World Championships featured five aquatics disciplines: swimming, water polo, diving, open water, and synchro ...

as part of the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay alongside

and

Femke Heemskerk Frederike Johanna Maria "Femke" Heemskerk (; born 21 September 1987) is a former Dutch competitive swimmer2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

she won a bronze medal in the 50 m freestyle (her first Olympic medal in an individual event, in a time of 24.39) and a silver medal in the 4 × 100 m freestyle.

Personal bests

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Veldhuis, Marleen 1979 births Living people People from Borne, Overijssel Olympic swimmers of the Netherlands Dutch female butterfly swimmers Dutch female freestyle swimmers Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Netherlands Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands Olympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands World record setters in swimming Olympic bronze medalists in swimming World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists in swimming Sportspeople from Overijssel 21st-century Dutch women