Chantalle Zijderveld: from event volunteer to international champion

Dutch swimmer claimed three individual medals at first World Series in Copenhagen 28 Mar 2018
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a female Para swimmer in the water

Chantalle Zijderveld won three medals at the World Series opener in Copenhagen

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By Adam Bailey | For the IPC

“The able-bodied swimmers have got the World Cups, but I think the idea of ‘our’ World Series is almost the same. It’s a very high-level competition, especially with so many different countries competing, and the atmosphere is also amazing.”

Chantalle Zijderveld has come a long way since first being inspired to pursue a career in Para swimming whilst volunteering at the 2010 IPC Swimming World Championships.

The Dutch swimmer started swimming competitively in 2007, but her international dream began after watching the world’s best Para swimmers compete in Eindhoven, Netherlands.

“At first, I did it for fun,” Zijderveld said. “But, in 2010 I was a volunteer at the World Championships in Eindhoven, and I realised that I also wanted to be as fast as the athletes who were competing there, and win medals at the highest level. The athletes just inspired me that much.

“After the Paralympic Games in London, I started training with the national team and it all became more serious. My coach back then (Mark Faber), told me it was possible to qualify for the 2013 World Championships in Montréal, Canada. So, from that moment my career as a professional athlete started, and I made my debut as a 12-year-old,” Zijderveld added.

Five years later, Zijderveld is now a European and world champion, and a Paralympic medallist.

The 17-year-old’s latest success came at the opening event of the 2018 World Para Swimming World Series in Copenhagen, Denmark, when she made a winning start to her long course season.

Zijderveld claimed three individual medals, including gold in both the 50m and 100m breaststroke.

“It was a good competition to see what I could do at this moment and winning three individual medals did give me a nice feeling,” Zijderveld said. “I didn’t expect that many medals, because I usually don’t swim that fast at this time of the year.

“There were a couple of races I’m not happy with, but I was very pleased with my times. There were a lot of things that went well, but of course there were also things I can learn from,” Zijderveld added.

It is the start of a busy year for the Dutch swimmer and not just in the pool. Zijderveld is in her final year at high school, and just a few weeks after her final school exams, she will face another test at the World Para Swimming Allianz European Championships in Dublin, Ireland.

“The European Championships are my main target this year,” Zijderveld said. “I want to defend my title in the 100m breaststroke and take home the gold.

“My teammate Lisa Kruger and I always train together and are evenly matched, so I am already looking forward to that race. The 50m freestyle and 200m individual medley will also be exciting races, because there will be a real battle for the gold, but I have to qualify first.”

Zijderveld will be hoping to secure European qualification at the Swim Cups in Den Haag and Eindhoven, in April, before travelling to Sheffield, Great Britain, and Berlin, Germany, in the World Series.

“I only competed at the World Series in Berlin last year, so Copenhagen was only my second World Series competition,” Zijderveld said. “I think it is good for Para swimming that we now have this series.

“The able-bodied swimmers have got the World Cups, but I think the idea of ‘our’ World Series is almost the same. It’s a very high-level competition, especially with so many different countries competing, and the atmosphere is also amazing.”

European success is not the only thing on her mind, Zijderveld has already set her sights on turning her bronze medal from the 2016 Paralympic Games to gold in Tokyo.

“The bronze in Rio was not what I wanted. I went there to win gold, and nothing less. I also missed out on the bronze in the 50m freestyle, by just 0.05 seconds so it was a real disappointment for me at that moment.

“But despite not being satisfied with most of my races, I enjoyed every moment of it. I’m now looking back at it being an amazing experience, and I love looking at my medal now and then. But because I didn’t swim as fast as I wanted, it has given me a lot of motivation for the coming years,” Zijderveld said.

The official site of Dublin 2018 can be found here.

More details on the World Series can be found here.