Marcel Wouda Appointed Netherlands Coach For Distance Swimming
Marcel Wouda has been appointed head coach of distance swimming as the Netherlands steps up its preparations for the Olympic cycle into the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
Wouda started his new role at the Royal Dutch Swimming Federation (KNZB) on 1 January where he joins fellow coaches Patrick Pearson (head of the Eindhoven high-performance centre), Bram Dekker (TeamNL Para-swimming) and Peter Bishop, who was appointed head coach in November 2024 after previous incumbent Mark Faber moved to head up the Belgium team.
The quartet will now plan for LA2028 with the Netherlands having won one gold at Paris 2024 courtesy of Sharon van Rouwendaal in the 10k with Tes Schouten and Caspar Corbeau each claiming bronze in their respective 200m breaststroke races.
The 52-year-old, who won Olympic 4×2 bronze at Sydney 2000, has been active on poolside since 2003 when he was appointed KNZB youth coach with Ranomi Kromowidjojo among his charges.
He became head coach at the high-performance centre in Eindhoven in 2006 where he continued to work with Kromowidjojo.
Wouda guided Maarten van der Weijden to Olympic 10k gold at Beijing 2008 and was open water coach at the Rio Games eight years later when Sharon van Rouwendaal and Ferry Weertman claimed a Dutch golden double.
Named head coach of the Eindhoven National Training Centre (NTC) in October 2016, Wouda then turned his attention to the 2032 Medley Project in a bid to progress the IM in the Netherlands in which he was world 200IM champion in 1998.
Sjors Lommerts, technical director KNZB, said: “We are very happy that Marcel Wouda is back on board with us full-time. With his knowledge and experience, he is a huge reinforcement for the coaching staff of our elite swimmers, both in the pool and open water.”
I thought Marcel got a bronze in 2IM and not a relay?