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

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

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

butterfly stroke The butterfly (shortened to fly) is a List of swimming styles, swimming stroke swum on the chest, with both arms moving symmetrically, accompanied by the butterfly kick (also known as the "dolphin kick") along with the movement of the hips an ...

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 (sport), swimming competition, defined by the rules of World Aquatics, in which competitors are subject to only a few limited restrictions on their swimming stroke. Freestyle races are the most common of all ...

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

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. 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 (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

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

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

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

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

External links

* * * * {{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 for 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 Swimmers from Limburg (Netherlands) 20th-century Dutch sportswomen

See also

References

External links