Press release Rotterdam Qualification Meet

Swimming top swimmers compete in Rotterdam Qualification Meet for tickets to Tokyo

Zwemcentrum Rotterdam will be the venue for the Rotterdam Qualification Meet (RQM) from 3 to 6 December. All top Dutch swimmers will compete these days to keep or earn tickets for the Olympic and Paralympic Games of Tokyo 2021.

The organisation of the RQM is in the hands of the KNZB in cooperation with Rotterdam Topsport and Sportbedrijf Rotterdam. Technical director André Cats: “We are very happy with our loyal partners in Rotterdam who, despite the difficult circumstances, still make it possible to organise this competition. It’s great for our top swimmers to be able to race against each other at a high level in a beautiful top-class sports accommodation”.

Director of Rotterdam Topsport, Peter Blangé, is also enthusiastic: “I am happy that we can facilitate this ‘Rotterdam Qualification Meet’ with all parties involved. We can offer the national swimming summit a podium again and in difficult times this is a great boost for both swimmers and sports enthusiasts”.

Rie Mastenbroek

The 50-metre competition pool at Zwemcentrum Rotterdam is named after Rie Mastenbroek. A lasting tribute to the Rotterdam swimmer who won three gold and one silver medals at the 1936 Olympics. Kim Busch realises that it is impossible to follow in Mastenbroek’s footsteps, but she hopes to qualify for Tokyo in ‘her’ pool.

Busch, born and raised in Dordrecht and currently competing for the HPC Eindhoven, focuses individually on the 50 free and the 4 x 100 free relay. “I am now fifth in my time for the relay, so it is important to pass one or two more swimmers. On the 50 free I have of course fierce competition from Ranomi Kromowidjojo and Femke Heemskerk, but I will gladly take up the challenge with them to get one of the two starting tickets for the Games”. For Kim Busch it’s the first time she’s competing in Zwemcentrum Rotterdam. “I’m really looking forward to racing there, ten minutes from my parents’ house.

Rogier Dorsman (21) also swims a ‘home race’ in Rotterdam for the first time. Dorsman grew up in Heerjansdam and always swam in clubs for De Devel in Zwijndrecht, before moving to Amersfoort where he and the HPC team Para Swimming complete a full-time training programme. Dorsman, world champion in 2019, already swam four limits for the Paralympic Games and is therefore normally already assured of Tokyo. “But of course I want flames in Rotterdam. It’s a wonderful prospect to swim again ‘for real’.”

Sports company Rotterdam

Together with the KNZB and the volunteers of the clubs in the region, the employees of the Rotterdam Sports Company look forward to making it a great match. Nicos Vlachos, location manager Swimming Centre Rotterdam: “We are very proud to receive such a beautiful event again. Even if it is without an audience, we are going to do everything in our swimming centre to create a TOP-entourage for the national top athletes where they can perform to the maximum!

The Open Dutch Championships programmed for these dates in Rotterdam will be moved to 2021 by the KNZB.