Olympic Champ Ranomi Kromowidjojo Not Competing in 2012 Euros or Worlds

PHOENIX, Arizona, October 22. RANOMI Kromowidjojo will not give swimming fans a 2012 encore to her double gold medal-winning performances from the London Olympics, choosing to take the remainder of the year to recover from the stress of the Games and prepare for next year's world championships.

That means she will not compete in November's short course European championships or the short course world championships in December in Turkey. By skipping worlds, she will not be defending her 50 freestyle title from the 2010 edition, which she won with the fourth-fastest time in history (23.37).

“For me it's too early because after the Olympics I took a long break and made time for other things (family, friends, business),” Kromowidjojo wrote today in an email sent exclusively to Swimming World. “I already started with training again, but I want to use the next month for training to work to, and be back in, the best shape next year during the Worlds long course in Barcelona.”

The Dutch sprinter will be looking to make 2013 her second consecutive year as the top female sprinter after winning the 50 and 100 in London. Though she was unable to match her world textile best of 52.75 in the 100 free, winning with a 53.00, Kromowidjojo did post a world textile best of 24.05 in winning the 50 free gold medal. She added a silver medal to her collection as part of the 400 free relay Dutch squad.

Inge Dekker, who performed well in the FINA World Cup this month, would have been the likely candidate to represent the Dutch sprinting tradition at worlds, but the Dutch swimming federation announced last week that Dekker would be taking a year or so off from competition to focus on her studies in psychology.

“Since 2001, my life was completely dedicated to swimming,” Dekker said. “I have for 11 years trained hard and achieved a lot. But it is now time for other things. I would at least like to finish my studies, because I want to do something (after swimming).”

Dekker did not rule out a possible spot on the 2016 Olympic team.

The Dutch swimming federation has not released an official list of those attending the world championships, but that is likely to be finalized after the European championships.

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