Pieter van den Hoogenband

Infobox Swimmer
swimmername = Pieter van den Hoogenband
fullname = Pieter Cornelis Martijn
van den Hoogenband
nicknames = "VDH"
"The Flying Dutchman"
"The Dutch Dolphin"
"Hoogie"


size = 275px
nationality = NED
strokes = Freestyle
club =
collegeteam =
birthdate = birth date and age|df=yes|1978|3|14
birthplace= Maastricht, Netherlands
height = height|m=1.93
weight = convert|93|kg|lb
medaltemplates =

Pieter Cornelis Martijn van den Hoogenband (born 14 March 1978 in Maastricht) is a Dutch former swimmer and a triple Olympic champion.

Personal life

Born in Maastricht, Limburg, the son of Cees-Rein van den Hoogenband and Astrid Verver, a former Dutch 800 m freestyle silver medalist at the European Championships, he grew up in Geldrop, where he swam for PSV Eindhoven. His father is a team doctor with the professional football team of the same club. In 1993, Van den Hoogenband achieved his first successes, performing well on the European Youth Olympic Days. He and his wife, former medley swimmer Minouche Smit, had their first child, a daughter named Daphne, on 23 June 2007.

Swimming career

Prior to the Atlanta Games, Astrid van den Hoogenband, who was coaching the Dutch team, became frustrated with the swimmers representing the Netherlands, feeling they had much potential but would not be able to live up to it due to lack of adequate support. She pleaded with Cees to take action, as he carried much weight from his professional connections. After Astrid threatened to remove Pieter from the sport, Cees created a small foundation and signed up 20 initial sponsors who each paid $2,500 to fund a team trainer. The Dutch swimming team eventually signed contracts with Philips, Nike, and Speedo. Enough funds were raised to open a swim school in Eindhoven, van den Hoogenband's place of residence. The team eventually grew to ten. Pieter remained the Netherlands' brightest star, and along with fellow Dutch Inge de Bruijn brought the Netherlands many victories in the sport.

1996 Olympics

His international breakthrough came at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Only 19 years old, van den Hoogenband surprised many by finishing 4th in both the 100 and 200 m freestyle.

2000 Olympics

After winning 6 gold medals at the 1999 European Championships, he was one of the favourites at the 2000 Summer Olympics, but his adversaries were formidable. In the 200 m freestyle he faced the world record holder, Australian youngster Ian Thorpe, favourite of the home crowd in Sydney. In the semi-finals, van den Hoogenband set a new world record, but Thorpe countered with a time only 0.02s slower. In an exciting final, van den Hoogenband equalled his time from the semi-finals to win the gold medal. In the 100 m freestyle, van den Hoogenband again set a world record in the semi-finals and won his second gold medal, defeating the 1992 and 1996 champion, Alexander Popov. His 100 m world record stood until March 21, 2008 and was broken by France's Alain Bernard (47,60). Hoogenband won two more medals, both bronze, in the 50 m freestyle and the 4 x 200 m freestyle relay, in which he was the final swimmer.

He was named the 2000 Male World Swimmer of the Year by "Swimming World magazine" .

2001 and 2003 World Championships

At the 2001 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan van den Hoogenband won four silver medals in the 50, 100, 200 and 4 x 100 m freestyle events.

2004 Olympics

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, he won a gold medal in the 100 m freestyle and two silvers in the 200 m freestyle and the 4 x 100 m freestyle relay. His anchor leg of 46.79 in the 4x100m Freestyle Relay was the fastest split in history until Jason Lezak of the United States clocked in 46.06 on his split, helping the U.S. male Olympic Swim team capture the gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the Men's 4 x 100 metre Freestyle. [ [http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/SW/C73B1/SWM411101.shtml#SWM411101 Men's 4 x 100 metre Freestyle Relay Official Results ] ]

2008 Olympics

He returned to the Olympic Games in 2008 in Beijing by finishing fifth in the 100 meters freestyle. He retired after the race. In the semifinals he broke his own national record that stood from 2000 Summer Olympics bringing it to 47.68s.

See also

* List of swimmers
* Dutch records in swimming

Footnotes

References

* Swim Rankings [http://www.swimrankings.net/index.php?page=athleteDetail&athleteId=1528956 profile]
* [http://www.zwemkroniek.com/whoswho.php?action=1&id=3 Zwemkroniek] nl icon

Persondata
NAME=Van den Hoogenband, Pieter Cornelis Martijn
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Dutch swimmer
DATE OF BIRTH=14 March 1978
PLACE OF BIRTH=Maastricht, Limburg, The Netherlands
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=