Sjerstin de Vries-Vermeulen ( Vermeulen, born 1972/73) is a Dutch former

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

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

, who competed at four

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

. She won five swimming medals at the

1988 Summer Paralympics The 1988 Summer Paralympics () were the first Paralympics in 24 years to take place in the same city as the Olympic Games. They took place in Seoul, South Korea. This was the first time the term "Paralympic" was used officially. Bidding proc ...

, and won equestrian medals at the

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

and

2004 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 136 , athletes = 3,806 , events = 519 in 19 sports , opening = 17 September , closing = 28 September , opened_by = President Costis Stephanopoulos , cauldron = Georgios Toptsis , stadium = Olympic ...

in the mixed team

dressage Dressage ( or ; a French term, most commonly translated to mean "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined b ...

event.

Personal life

Vermuelen is from

Varik Varik is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of West Betuwe, and lies about 8 km south of Tiel. Varik was a separate municipality until 1978, when it became a part of Neerijnen. History It was ...

, Netherlands, and now lives in

Ermelo, Netherlands Ermelo (, Dutch Low Saxon: ''Armelo'' or ''Armel'') is a municipality and town in the Netherlands; found within Gelderland province and the forest-rich Veluwe area. The population was . Etymology ''Ermelo'' comes from ''lo'', meaning "woods" M. ...

. She was born with only one hand.

Career

Vermeulen won two silver medals and three bronze medals in L6 classification swimming events at the

. She came second in the 100m

breaststroke Breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and that it can be s ...

L6, 100m

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 ...

L6 and 400m freestyle L6 events, and third in the 100m freestyle L6 and 200m

individual medley Medley is a combination of four different swimming styles—backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle—into one race. This race is either swum by one swimmer as individual medley (IM) or by four swimmers as a medley relay. Individual ...

L6 races. In

, Vermeulen competed in the Grade IV classification. She competed in the

dressage events Dressage ( or ; a French term, most commonly translated to mean "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined b ...

at the

2000 Summer Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

. She came seventh and eighth in the individual events, and won a silver medal in the team event, alongside

Gert Bolmer Gert Bolmer (born April 25, 1983, in Almelo, Netherlands) is a professional horse rider competing in dressage. He is grade II disabled. Career Apart from numerous participations in national as well as international contests, he is best known for ...

Joop Stokkel Joop Stokkel (born 11 April 1967 in Aalsmeerderbrug) is a Dutch Paralympian and one of the leading equestrianism, equestrians with a physical challenge, in the world. Stokkel suffered an accident at the age of seven causing him to lose his entir ...

and

Ineke de Groot Ineke is Dutch feminine given name. It originated as a diminutive of Ina, which can be a short form of a number names, like Catharina, Gesina, Hendrina, Klazina, etc. It is also a rare possibly matronymic surname in the Netherlands.

. At the

, she came fifth and eighth in the individual dressage events, and won a bronze medal in the team dressage events, alongside Stokkel and Bolmer. Vermuelen initially failed to qualify for the

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 ...

dressage events on her horse ''Kenzo''. After being recommended to change to the horse ''Sultano'', she qualified for the Games. It was her fourth appearance at the Paralympics. She finished fourth and seventh in the individual events, and fifth in the team event. Her seventh place in the freestyle event made her the highest Dutch finisher in the competition. In 2009, she competed in the Netherlands National Championships in

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...

Post-career

In 2017, Vermeulen supervised a 12-hour

trampolining Trampolining or trampoline gymnastics is a competitive Olympic sport in which athletes perform acrobatics while bouncing on a trampoline. In competition, these can include simple jumps in the straight, pike, tuck, or straddle position to more com ...

session in Ermelo, to raise money for a 15-year-old club member. She now works as a coach at (Ermelo stables).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vermeulen, Sjerstin 1970s births Living people Dutch female backstroke swimmers Dutch female breaststroke swimmers Dutch female freestyle swimmers Dutch female medley swimmers Dutch female equestrians Paralympic equestrians for the Netherlands Medalists at the 1988 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Paralympic silver medalists for the Netherlands Paralympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands Paralympic swimmers for the Netherlands Sportspeople from Gelderland