Aagje ("Ada") Kok (born 6 June 1947, in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

) is a former Dutch swimmer who ranked among the world's best in the

butterfly stroke The butterfly (colloquially shortened to fly) is a swimming stroke swum on the chest, with both arms moving symmetrically, accompanied by the butterfly kick (also known as the "dolphin kick"). While other styles like the breaststroke, front ...

category during the 1960s. Her international career started in 1962 when, at the age of fifteen, she took the European title in the 100 m butterfly in Leipzig. She was also part of the silver 4×100 m medley relay team. At the Tokyo Olympics two years later she finished second in both events. She was also good at

freestyle swimming Freestyle is a category of swimming competition, defined by the rules of the International Swimming Federation (FINA), in which competitors are subject to a few limited restrictions on their swimming stroke. Freestyle races are the most commo ...

, which showed when she took second place in the 400 metres at the 1966 European Championships in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

. In the same tournament she also won the 100 m butterfly and the 4×100 m relay. She achieved nine world records between 1963 and 1967 in the 100 m and 200 m (not introduced until later). Kok reached her peak at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport ev ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. She won the gold medal in the 200 meter butterfly race in a time of 2:24.7, beating the

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

Helga Lindner by 0.1 seconds. The 100 meter butterfly race in that

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

ended in disappointment for her, when she did not feel well beforehand, and finished in fourth place.. In her memoirs written by Henk Lichtenveldt, she stated:

References

Dutch Olympic Committee
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kok, Ada 1947 births Living people Dutch female butterfly swimmers Dutch female freestyle swimmers World record setters in swimming Olympic gold medalists for the Netherlands Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands Olympic swimmers of the Netherlands Swimmers from Amsterdam Swimmers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists in swimming People from Hulsberg Sportspeople from Limburg (Netherlands) 20th-century Dutch women

See also

References