Hendrika "Rie" Wilhelmina Mastenbroek (26 February 1919 – 6 November 2003) was a Dutch

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 ...

and a triple

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

champion.

Biography

Born in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, she started swimming under the coaching of "Ma" Braun, who had coached her daughter to an Olympic gold medal in 1928. In 1934, Mastenbroek won three gold medals and a silver at the European Championships. She repeated that performance at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

, aged only 17, winning the 100 m freestyle, 400 m freestyle and the 4×100 m freestyle. In the 100 m

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

, she finished second behind teammate

Nida Senff Dina Willemina Jacoba "Nida" Senff (3 April 1920 – 27 June 1995) was a backstroke swimmer from the Netherlands who won the 100 metres backstroke at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. She did so after missing a turning point, went back to pu ...

. (Senff missed a turning point and had to swim back before completing the last 50 m. She nevertheless beat Mastenbroek thanks to an outstanding last leg.) The following year she became a swimming instructor, thereby losing her amateur status and becoming ineligible for competition. During her career she broke nine world records (six for backstroke and three for freestyle). In 1968 she was inducted into the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the stu ...

. In 1997 she received the

Olympic Order The Olympic Order, established in 1975, is the highest award of the Olympic Movement. It is awarded for particularly distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement, i.e. recognition of efforts worthy of merit in the cause of sport. Traditi ...

. She died at age 84 in Rotterdam. After her death, ''Stichting Aquarius'' named the Rie Mastenbroek Trophy after her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mastenbroek, Rie 1919 births 2003 deaths Olympic swimmers of the Netherlands Swimmers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Swimmers from Rotterdam Olympic gold medalists for the Netherlands Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands World record setters in swimming Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics Dutch female freestyle swimmers Dutch female backstroke swimmers European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Recipients of the Olympic Order Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists in swimming 20th-century Dutch women

Biography

See also

References