Kamminga & Toussaint Head Up Dutch Roster For European SC Championships

The Royal Dutch Swimming Federation (KNZB) revealed its 20-strong lineup selected for the 2023 European Short Course Championships. The Championships are set for December 5th through December 10th in Otopeni, Romania.

According to the KNZB, the roster of 7 women and 13 men was chosen based on qualifying times achieved this year in combination with athletes’ overall future potential.

Of note, Marrit Steenbergen, Maaike de Waard, Kim Busch and other top swimmers from the High-Performance Center in Eindhoven are opting out of the European Short Course Championships. The KNZB says their coach Patrick Pearson is focusing instead on the Long Course World Championships taking place in February in Doha.

These athletes are still planning on racing at the Rotterdam Qualification Meet taking place November 30th through December 3rd. This significant competition represents a selection opportunity for the World Championships, Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Looking back at the 2021 European Short Course Championships, the Netherlands enjoyed success to the tune of placing 2nd in the overall swimming medal. The nation amassed 18 pieces of hardware in all, including 8 golds, 5 silvers and 5 bronze medals.

Individual medalists included Luc Kroon taking gold in the men’s 400m free and silver in the men’s 200 free, Steenbergen in the 200m free and Kira Toussaint sweeping the women’s backstroke events. The Dutch mixed medley and free relays also wound up atop their respective podiums, with the former establishing a new World Record. The men’s 4x50m free relay also grabbed gold.

Neither Kroon nor Steenbergen will compete in 2023 to defend their medals.

Dutch Roster for 2023 European Short Course Championships

Women

Tes Schouten
Kira Toussaint
Valerie van Roon
Silke Holkenborg
Tessa Giele
Lotte Hosper
Anna van Droffelaar

Men

Arno Kamminga
Caspar Corbeau
Thom de Boer
Kenzo Simons
Jesse Puts
Thomas Jansen
Sean Niewold
Bram Zwetsloot
Lucas Peters
Koen de Groot
Luca Janssen
Ivo Kroes
Brandon van den Berg