Biography

We learned to swim at an early age as part of our upbringing. As toddlers/preschoolers, our granddad and grandma often took us to the Helper swimming pool in Groningen.

1992

It was July 1992, just before her third birthday, when she received her first swimsuit on holiday. There she stood at the edge of the swimming pool. Splash! And then it was blub, blub, blub and mum had to dive in and rescue her from the bottom of the pool. The little rascal thought that because she was wearing a swimsuit she could immediately swim. Mum and grandma got the fright of their lives. But when Ranomi resurfaced she said: ‘Again!’. And that’s how the whole story more or less started.

2005

In 2005 she made her entrance at international competitions. She also became part of the Dutch Youth core team led by national coach Marcel Wouda and her old trainer Jeanet Mulder.

2006

In 2006 she made her entrance at the age of fifteen at the Senior European Championships in Budapest. And with great success: she swum her way to the 100m freestyle finals and won silver. From September 2006 she was part of the senior core team led by Jacco Verhaeren.

2007

In maart 2007 mocht ze deelnemen aan haar eerste WK in Melbourne (Australie). Ze zwemt hier de 4×100 vrij estafette en plaatst zich in de finale waar de dames uiteindelijk brons winnen! Op de de 100 vrij persoonlijk wordt Ranomi uiteindelijk 13e van de wereld.

2010

In 2010 Ranomi also wanted individual success. In March she swam 53.4 in the 100m freestyle and was promptly number one in the world rankings (and remained there the entire year). Ranomi had set her sights on medals at the European Championships in Budapest, but during a training camp in Tenerife, two weeks prior to the European Championships, Ranomi ended up in hospital with meningitis. This kept Ranomi away from the water for 7 weeks.

She resumed training in September and a month later she demonstrated that she was at her old level: During the Short Course European Championships in Eindhoven, Ranomi won four gold medals in the 50 and 100 freestyle, and the 50 freestyle and 50 relay.

2012

2012 was to be Ranomi’s year. For years she has made conscious choices to achieve Olympic success. During the Swim Cup in April she swam 52.75 in the 100 metres, a textile world record, which placed her, just as in the 50 metres, at the top of the world rankings.

In the summer of 2012 Ranomi made her dreams come true. Gold in the 50m freestyle! Gold in the 100m freestyle! Silver in the 4 x 100 freestyle!

After the Olympic Games in London, Ranomi took a short period of rest. During the World Championships in Barcelona, Ranomi once more achieved Gold in the 50 meters and bronze in the 100 metres freestyle and 100 metres butterfly stroke. Also, Ranomi established a world short course record in the 50 metres freestyle with a time of 23:24. Ranomi is now training hard for the Short Course World Championships in Doha at the end of December of this year. Keep track of her blog and event schedule to stay abreast of the latest developments.