2018 Dutch Nationals: Heemskerk Fires Off 1:56.11 200 Free

2018 DUTCH OPEN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• June 22nd – June 24th
• Amersfoort, Netherlands
• LCM
• Meet Information
• Live Results

The 2018 Dutch Open kicked off in Amersfoort tonight where athletes not having already been selected for the Dutch European Championships squad can try to capture qualifying times to join the team in Glasgow later this summer. The selection criteria, including KNZB-dictated time standards can be found here, where we reviewed the two qualifying time periods included in the Dutch federation’s process. The initial announcement of Dutch swimmers set to represent the nation in Glasgow can be found here.

Maaike de Waard was already selected to represent Netherlands at the European Championships in the 50m backstroke, but she further solidified her place on the roster with a speedy 28.26 time to win gold tonight. That dips under the 28.45 qualifying time, though it falls shy of the 28.05 she produced at April’s Swim Cup Eindhoven.

North Carolina State-bound Nyls Korstanje was a winner on 2 fronts tonight, first taking the men’s 100m backstroke in a mark of 55.98. Already having qualified for the European Championships squad in the 50m fly, Korstanje needed to dip under 54.52 to snag a roster spot in this 100m back. Right behind him this evening was Tom Donker, who finished in 56.16 for silver, while Jelle Betten clocked 57.39 for bronze.

Korstanje also was tonight’s 50m butterfly winner, earning gold in a solid effort of 23.94. That held off teammate Joeri Verlinden who slammed the wall just .03 later in 23.97. Korstanje has been almost half a second faster already this season with the 23.54 clocked in Eindhoven, a mark that positions the teen as 16th fastest in this season’s world rankings.

30-year-old stalwart Femke Heemskerk looked in form tonight, winning the women’s 200m freestyle decisively in a time of 1:56.11. That was after already clocking a 1:56 effort in the morning, claiming the top seed in 1:56.73. Her outing tonight overtakes her previous season best of 1:56.54 notched at the Flanders Cup back in January and rockets the Dutch freestyle ace up several spots to 7th in the world rankings.

Elinore de Jong led the women’s 100m fly race tonight, registering her 6th sub-minute 100m fly of 2018. After posting 59.70 to take the top seed in the morning prelim, she rocked an effort of 59.31 to win the gold over Angelina Kohler‘s time of 59.65. 2012 two-time Olympic champion Ranomi Kromowidjojo was the bronze medalist this evening, rounding out the top 3 in a mark of 1:00.08. She was faster in the morning, however, going sub-minute in 59.76.

Additional Winners:

• Femke Spierling took the women’s 400m IM tonight in a time of 4:58.70, while Arjan Knippling was the winner for the men, touching in 4:27.94.
• The men’s 200m freestyle saw Ben Schwietart race to the wall first in a time of 1:50.25.
• Tes Schouten was tonight’s 200m breaststroke winner for the women, touching in 2:31.86, while Phillip Brandt earned gold for the men in 2:15.08.
• The women’s 1500m freestyle was won by Serena Stel in a time of 17:08.28. Jargos Skotadis was the men’s 800m free winner in 8:24.35.