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The Dutch swim team is settling in on Phuket to train for the world titles

Phuket's Golden Days Draw Europe's Fastest

Thursday, January 17, 2013
PHUKET: Swimming legend Pieter van den Hoogenband joined the Dutch national team and two Italian champions for a session in the pool in Phuket this morning, as the athletes begin their preparations for this year's biggest competition, the World Championships in Barcelona.

For two hours today, gold medallists Ranomi Kromowidjojo and Femke Heemskerk swam laps and practiced drills with their teammates in Thanyapura's world class 50 metre pool.

The athletes will have ten training sessions in the pool each week during their stay, as well as three weights sessions and three dry land sessions, according to Marcel Wouda, the team's Senior Coach.

Some of the swimmers talked about their hopes for the 2016 Rio Olympics but with three and a half years until the next Games, Wouda says that their immediate focus is Barcelona.

''The first step is qualifying for the Championships and then every year Rio comes a little bit closer.''

Wouda also announced today that the Dutch team would be coming back to Phuket in January for the next three years.

''For us, it's very important to go into the sun at this time of the year, and not because of the sun, but more the effects of being outside and training outdoors,'' he said.

''That helps a lot with staying healthy in the last two winter months that we have, at least back in Europe. So it's very good to be here.''

The coaches and managers of the Dutch team convinced Van den Hoogenband, who retired four years ago after the Beijing Olympics, to sign up for the trip to Thailand by telling him about Thanyapura's unique facilities.

''From pretty much the moment we started here, [van den Hoogenband] has been a tremendous positive influence on the team,'' said Wouda.

''The younger kids learn a lot from him.''

''He's done the work, he knows exactly what it takes to be an Olympic champion and how to get there, and he's really good at bringing that information, his knowledge back to these swimmers, so it helps their development tremendously.''

Italian world champions Filippo Magnini and Frederica Pellegrini accompanied the Dutch team. Magnini is enjoying the chance to be back in the pool with van den Hoogenband, a former rival in the pool and someone he thinks of a friend.

''I consider Pieter to be the most important 100 metre freestyler. I'll always have great admiration for him and it's a pleasure to be able to spend time with him.''

Van den Hoogenband also had some advice for children in Thailand with dreams of becoming world champions.

''Because I was so passionate about sports, it really helped me to develop myself. I was a little bit shy as a kid and I loved judo, field hockey, playing soccer, tennis and swimming.

''You [should] be very ambitious, you need to develop discipline to get the maximum out of your talent, but the most important when you're young is to find a good coach because you cannot do it all by yourself.

''Swimming is an individual sport but you need a team with good people around you to get the maximum out of it.''

The swimmers will swap the chlorine for the salt of the Andaman this weekend when they take a break from training for some sightseeing.

Sophie Brown, a journalism masters student at the University of Hong Kong, is currently an intern at Phuketwan. She is a former communications officer at the anti-corruption organisation, Transparency International.

Comments

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Its a shame if they do use Chlorine in their pool as mentioned above, I thought there were better alternatives nowadays.

Posted by swimmer on January 17, 2013 21:26

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Thanyapura use ozone treatment in their pools which mean its much less chlorine in their pools than a regular "only chlorine treatment pool".

Posted by Harald on January 18, 2013 15:26


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