Roshendra Julienne Mercedes Vrolijk (born November 3, 1984) is an Aruban former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She is one of Aruba's first Olympic swimmers, alongside

Davy Bisslik Davy Rolando Bisslik (born 26 March 1982 in Savaneta, Aruba) is an Olympic swimmer from Aruba. He has swum for Aruba at the: *Olympics: 2000, 2004 *World Championships: 2001, 2003 *Pan American Games: 2003 Bisslik attended Colegio Arubano a ...

, and also a two-time Olympian (2000 and 2004). Vrolijk made her Olympic debut, as Aruba's youngest athlete (aged 15), at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, where she competed in the women's 50 m freestyle. Swimming in heat three, she edged out Armenia's Yuliana Mikheeva to pick up a sixth seed and sixty-second overall by 0.49 of a second in 29.31. In 2003, Vrolijk competed in eight events at the

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships The Swimming competition of the 10th FINA World Aquatics Championships consisted of 40 long course (50m) events, swum July 20–27, 2003 in Barcelona, Spain.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 ...

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 ...

, her highest finish out of her eight events was 42nd in the 200 metres breaststroke, and she won her heat in the 50 metres breaststroke but it still wasn't fast enough to qualify for the next round. The next month she swam at the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the games was made in the mid-1990s, when Dominican Republic had one of the highest growth rates in Latin America. Al ...

held in

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

, she competed in the 50 metres freestyle where she finished in 23rd place out of 26 starters. 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), ...

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 ...

, Vrolijk was elected by the Aruban Olympic Committee to become the nation's first ever female flag bearer in the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

. She qualified again for the 50 m freestyle by receiving a Universality place from FINA, in an entry time of 28.13. Swimming in heat four, she raced to a third spot by three hundredths of a second (0.03) behind Moldova's Maria Tregubova in 28.43. Vrolijk failed to advance into the semifinals, as she placed forty-ninth overall out of 75 swimmers on the last day of preliminaries.

References

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vrolijk, Roshendra 1984 births Living people Aruban female swimmers Olympic swimmers of Aruba Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Aruban female freestyle swimmers People from Oranjestad, Aruba Pan American Games competitors for Aruba Swimmers at the 2003 Pan American Games