Double Olympic silver medallist Arno Kamminga will spearhead a 20-strong Netherlands team at the European Short-Course Championships in Kazan, Russia, next month.
Kamminga will be joined by European 50 back champion Kira Toussaint and a mix of current internationals and up-and-coming swimmers at the continental meet from 2-7 November although Femke Heemskerk and Ranomi Kromowidjojo will be absent.
Heemskerk will only compete in the International Swimming League (ISL) after announcing her retirement from the sport on Tuesday.
So too will Kromowidjojo focus solely on the ISL and according to the Royal Dutch Swimming Federation, has yet to make a decision about her future in the sport.
Along with his two trips to the podium in Tokyo, Kamminga won three silvers at the European Championships in Budapest in May as he claimed his first senior international medals in long-course waters.
The 25-year-old completed the breaststroke clean sweep at last week’s World Cup stop in Berlin to come away with 12,000 US dollars and has his eyes on Kazan and the World Short-Course Championships in Abu Dhabi in December.
Kira Toussaint: Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
Kamminga will compete in the 50-100-200 breaststroke with Toussaint slated for the 50-100-200 back and 50 free.
Also on the team is Valerie van Roon – who missed out on a trip to Tokyo when Heemskerk won a swim-off to decide the second 50 free berth – and Thom de Boer, who placed eighth in the Men’s 50 free in July.
The composition of the relay teams will be decided upon in Kazan.
Mark Faber – who was promoted to head coach last month – told knzb.nl:
“The European Championship team is a nice mix of recognized world toppers such as Arno Kamminga and Kira Toussaint, other Tokyo-goers who also want to grow to that level in the coming years and up-and-coming talents who are still at the beginning of their careers.
“Where one person will be satisfied with nothing less than gold, for another a place in the final is already a great challenge. All European Championship participants will continue to develop in the coming years, but who knows, maybe a few ‘new names’ in Kazan may surprise you.”
Netherlands team:
Women:
– Kira Toussaint
– Maaike de Waard
– Tessa Giele
– Marrit Steenbergen
– Tes Schouten
– Kim Busch
– Tamara van Vliet
– Silke Holkenberg
– Imani de Jong
– Valerie van Roon
Men:
– Arno Kamminga
– Thom de Boer
– Luc Kroon
– Jesse Puts
– Stan Pijnenburg
– Kenzo Simons
– Thomas Verhoeven
– Ties Elzerman
– Maarten Brzoskowski
– Tim Hoogerwerf