Dutch swimmers vie for Worlds selection

Lisa den Braber, Marlou van der Kulk, Lisette Teunissen, Chantalle Zijderveld and Olivier van de Voort each bought down times eager to secure their places on the team for the Worlds in Glasgow, Great Britain, between 13-19 July.

An incredible six world records were set across five days by Dutch swimmers between 2-5 April at the Swim Cup Eindhoven, in the Netherlands, as athletes hit form ahead of the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships.

Lisa den Braber, Lisette Teunissen, Chantalle Zijderveld and Olivier van de Voort each bought down times eager to secure their places on the team for the Worlds in Glasgow, Great Britain, between 13-19 July.

Teunissen and van der Voort both set two world records each at the Pieter van den Hoogenband Swimming Stadium, the same venue as the 2014 Euros.

Van de Voort, 17, lowered the men’s 100m breaststroke SB10 world record previously held by the USA’s Justin Zook on Monday (6 April). Van de Voort became the first man to dip under one minute in the event with 59.56 seconds, emerging as a face to watch this summer.

Teunissen swam a 52.59 in the women’s 50m backstroke S3 on Saturday (4 April) to set herself up for selection for the national squad heading to Glasgow.

A series of world records were also set in events not on the programme for Glasgow 2015.

Van der Voort (2:07.16) opened the competition with a new men’s 200m backstroke S10 world mark on Thursday (2 April).

Teenager Chantalle Zijderveld, a European champion over 100m from 2014, improved the women’s 50m breaststroke SB9 time. The 14-year-old swam a 35.88 on Sunday (5 April).

On Monday (6 April) Teunissen smashed the previous women’s 100m backstroke S3 world record of Singapore’s Yip Pin Xiu (2:10.09), touching in at 1:49.28.

Lisa den Braber followed, improving her own world record in the women’s 200m breaststroke SB7 with a 3:15.95.

Mark Faber, the Dutch national coach, is expected to name his team for Glasgow 2015 shortly.

The World Championships will attract around 650 swimmers from 50 countries for the biggest international competition ahead of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Tickets are available from GBP 10/15 for heats/finals.

All records are subject to ratification by IPC Swimming.