Willy den Ouden
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Willemijntje den Ouden (1 January 1918 – 6 December 1997) was a competitive
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 ...
from the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, who held the 100-meter freestyle world record for nearly 23 years, from 1933 to 1956.


Biography

Den Ouden was a daughter of Willemijntje Kuipers and Antonius Victor Jozephus den Ouden, a café owner 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 ...
, a town that was then the swimming center of the Netherlands. in 1931, at the age of 13, she became the ''Rotterdamsche Dames Zwemclub'' ("Rotterdam's Ladies Swimming Club") champion in her favorite discipline, 100m freestyle and broke the Dutch national record on that distance by 1.4 seconds with a time of 1:10.

A year later, Den Ouden came in the international limelight when she participated at the
1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...
in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
and won two of the five contestable silver medals in swimming. In the series, she also broke the Olympic record on the 100 m. These accomplishments attracted wide attention since as a 14-year old she was also the youngest Olympic participant. Four years later 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 ...
in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, she was widely favored to win the same race, but came in fourth place in the final. She did win the gold medal in the women's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay with her compatriots
Tini Wagner Catharina "Tini" Wilhelmina Wagner (17 December 1919, Amsterdam – 2 June 2004, Soest) was a freestyle swimmer from the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type ...
,
Rie Mastenbroek Hendrika "Rie" Wilhelmina Mastenbroek (26 February 1919 – 6 November 2003) was a Dutch swimmer and a triple Olympic champion. Biography Born in Rotterdam, she started swimming under the coaching of "Ma" Braun, who had coached her daughte ...
and
Jopie Selbach Johanna "Jopie" Katarina Selbach (27 July 1918 – 30 April 1998) was a freestyle swimmer from the Netherlands. She won gold medals at the 1934 European Aquatics Championships (with Willy den Ouden, Rie Mastenbroek and Ans Timmermans) and 193 ...
. However, the diminutive Den Ouden -she reached - was far more successful between these two Olympic games. At the 1934 European Championships in
Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...
she won all three contests she participated in, though her shared win at the 400 m race with Rie Mastenbroek led only to a silver medal when she refused to swim the race again to decide a winner. On July 9, 1933 in
Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,
, she broke
Helene Madison Helene Emma Madison (June 19, 1913 – November 27, 1970) was an American competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder. Madison won three gold medals in freestyle event at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, becom ...
's two-year-old world record on the 100 m freestyle, setting it at 1:06.0. She would improve on this three times, swimming 1:04.8 in April 1934 and finally reaching 1:04.6 on 27 February 1936 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 ...
. This record would last until 1956 when it was broken twice within ten days by Dawn Fraser and
Cocky Gastelaars Cornelia Maria (Cocky) van Engelsdorp-Gastelaars (born 24 February 1938, Rotterdam) is a Dutch former swimmer who twice improved the world record in the women's 100 metre freestyle in 1956. On March 3, 1956, in Amsterdam she broke the ...
, respectively. Thus, she held the world record for the top event in swimming for an unequalled 22 years and 8 months. Den Ouden further broke the world records on the 200 m freestyle (three times between 1933 and 1936), the 400 m freestyle (in 1934), and the now defunct distances of 100 yd, 150 yd, 220 yd, 300 yd, 400 yd, 300 m, and 500 m freestyle. She was also the anchor swimmer for the Dutch relay teams that broke the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay record in 1934 and in 1936. On February 4, 1934, she became the first woman to swim 100 yards in under a minute (59.8 seconds). In 1935 she held all 10 world-records freestyle swimming for 500 m and shorter simultaneously. She retired from competitive swimming in 1938, at the age of 20, after obtaining a silver medal at the European Championship's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay. She set her eyes on an acting career and in 1939 she was cast in the Belgian movie ''Van het een komt het ander'' ("One Thing Leads to Another"). However the outbreak of the Second World War stopped the production. The German invasion of the Netherlands piled on the misery: Den Ouden was engaged, but her fiancé's family fled to America just before the invasion, and her parental house was destroyed on May 14, 1940 in the bombing of Rotterdam. Most if not all of her medals and prizes were lost in the burning rubble. Den Ouden herself fled to England, where in October 1943 she married Staffan Broms, son of a Swedish diplomat stationed in London. The couple moved to
Saltsjöbaden Saltsjöbaden is a locality in Nacka Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 9,491 inhabitants in 2010. It is on the Baltic Sea coast, deep in the Stockholm Archipelago. History Saltsjöbaden () was developed as a resort by Knut Agathon Wa ...
in Sweden after the wedding, but the marriage didn't last and in 1946 Den Ouden returned to Rotterdam. She married twice more; in November 1953 to Wicher Hooite Jager (divorce in 1957) and in October 1958 to Jan Edwin Schupper. Her last marriage only lasted half a year. Den Ouden spent her further life in anonymity although 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 1970.


See also

*
List of members of the International Swimming Hall of Fame 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 a ...
* World record progression 100 metres freestyle * World record progression 200 metres freestyle * World record progression 400 metres freestyle


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ouden, Willy Den 1918 births 1997 deaths Swimmers at the 1932 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers of the Netherlands Olympic gold medalists for the Netherlands Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands World record setters in swimming Swimmers from Rotterdam Medalists at the 1932 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics Dutch female freestyle swimmers European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists in swimming 20th-century Dutch women