Mirjam de Koning (born Peper) (born 16 July 1969 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

) 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: Mirjam de Koning-Peper
, beijing2008.cn, retrieved September 8, 2008 Mirjam de Koning - Peper

De Koning was born with damaged

connective tissue Connective tissue is one of the four primary types of animal tissue, along with epithelial tissue, muscle tissue, and nervous tissue. It develops from the mesenchyme derived from the mesoderm the middle embryonic germ layer. Connective tiss ...

. After her daughter Sarina was born in 1993, she had seven

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

surgeries. In 1999 she suffered from a

hernia A hernia is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ (anatomy), organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. Various types of hernias can occur, most commonly involving the abdomen, and specifically the gr ...

and during a back-surgery and a nerve was damaged.Een sportief gesprek in de Nieuwe meerbode, 17 November 2005
Zwem-Mirjam, retrieved September 8, 2008 This left her with a form of

paraplegia 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 ...

, hence she competes in the S6 classification. Swimming and

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (of ...

were her sports, but as wheelchair basketball caused a lot of injuries, she decided to mainly focus on swimming. She started to train five times a week with local swim team called Oceanus in

Aalsmeer Aalsmeer () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Its name is derived from the Dutch for eel (''aal'') and lake (''meer''). Aalsmeer is bordered by the Westeinderplassen lake, the largest open water of ...

. Not much later she was one of the fastest swimmers at her club, being able to keep up with swimmers without a disability. That year she swam seven Dutch national records in both 25 and 50 metres pools. In 2005, she was ready to take part in the Dutch national championships, but to participate she had to be a member of the national swimming association. Just a few days before the start she became a member and she won four gold medals, breaking all four Dutch national records as well as a European record. The national records were in the 50 m freestyle, 50 m butterfly and at the 100 m freestyle. The European record and thus fourth Dutch record she swam at the 50m backstroke.Kranten artikel van de amstelgids, Juli 2005
Zwem-Mirjam, retrieved September 8, 2008 De Koning broke her first World Record at the Open Danish swimming championships in

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport town and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban population of 71,698 (1 January 2022)

, March 2006. She won seven medals at the Championships, of which four golds, one silver and two bronze as well as a new World Record at the 50m backstroke in a time of 45.46 seconds. She also broke another four Dutch national records.Wereldrecord voor Mirjam de Koning
Zwem-Mirjam, retrieved September 8, 2008 She then qualified for the 2006 World Championships in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and she won two bronze medals. At the 100 m freestyle she swam a time of 1:22.50 and at the 100m backstroke she came to a time of 1:35.26 to take her second bronze. A few days later she became World Champion at the 50m freestyle after winning her race in 37.67 seconds to take her third medal of the Championships. At the 400m freestyle she finished in fourth place.17 December 2006
Zwem-Mirjam, retrieved September 8, 2008 She represented the

Netherlands at the 2008 Summer Paralympics The Netherlands competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. A total of 83 Dutch competitors took part in 13 sports. The athletes that qualified for the 2008 Summer Paralympics are listed below. Medalists Archery 1 competitor: ;Women ...

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 ...

for a total of four events. At her first event, the 100m freestyle she won her first round heat in a time of 1:18.56, which was by far the best time of all finalists, with

Eleanor Simmonds Eleanor May Simmonds, OBE (born 11 November 1994) is a British former Paralympian swimmer who competed in S6 events. She came to national attention when she competed in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, winning two gold medals for Gre ...

with 1:21.86 coming in second place.Beijing 2008: 100m freestyle series results
, beijing2008.cn, retrieved September 8, 2008 In the final Simmonds managed to improve her time to 1:18.75 while De Koning was only able to swim January 19, 2029 and take the silver, finishing still in front of Paralympic and World Record holder Doramitzi Gonzalez.Beijing 2008: 100m freestyle final results
, beijing2008.cn, retrieved September 8, 2008 Later in the week she beat Simmonds in the 50 m freestyle and came second behind Simmonds in the 400 freestyle. She also won a gold medal in the 100 m backstroke event.

Personal best times

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Koning, Mirjam de 1969 births Living people Dutch female freestyle swimmers Paralympic swimmers for the Netherlands Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for the Netherlands Paralympic silver medalists for the Netherlands Paralympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands Swimmers from Amsterdam World record holders in paralympic swimming Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics S6-classified para swimmers Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Paralympic medalists in swimming Dutch female backstroke swimmers 21st-century Dutch women

Personal best times

See also

References

External links