{"id":438632,"date":"2020-07-04T16:43:45","date_gmt":"2020-07-04T23:43:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=438632"},"modified":"2020-07-05T07:33:41","modified_gmt":"2020-07-05T14:33:41","slug":"back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Back in Suriname, Renzo Tjon-A-Joe Is Hard at Work In and Out of Water"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Renzo Tjon-A-Joe<\/strong> weighed the possibility of an elite swimming career in his late teens, he knew it would require leaving his native Suriname.<\/p>\n

To work his way into the upper echelons of the world of swimming, the United States would be the best place for him, he reasoned then. As much as he loved his home country, it lacked an Olympic-length pool. Outdoor pools without temperature controls in a tropical climate weren\u2019t conducive to the hours of workouts his fitness demanded.<\/p>\n

So off Tjon-A-Joe went, to train at Auburn University, to study economics at Harvard, to end up training among fellow Olympians in Florida \u2026 only to find himself, on the precipice of what was to be his second Olympics, back in his home country, waiting out the COVID-19 pandemic that has postponed the Tokyo Games to 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cA big reason why I left for the U.S. was because Suriname just doesn\u2019t have the facilities to perform at a high level,\u201d Tjon-A-Joe told Swimming World this week from his childhood home. \u201cAnd it\u2019s not just facilities; it\u2019s the structures, the training partners, things like that. Both (Trinidad and Tobago native) Dylan Carter<\/strong> and I had dealt with these same types of issues that we would love to train at home. It\u2019s just the infrastructure isn\u2019t here and that\u2019s why we left. And now that I\u2019m back, I\u2019m again confronted the challenges that I had prior to leaving in 2014 for that future in swimming.\u201d<\/p>\n

The return to Suriname has contained silver linings for Tjon-A-Joe, who finished 21st in the 50 free at the Rio Olympics. He\u2019s spent time with family, his reason for returning in the first place. He\u2019s able to explore business opportunities that would normally be shunted aside by the training calendar. And he\u2019s renewed a connection to his country in the longest stint he\u2019s been home since lighting out for his future in the U.S.<\/p>\n

Take Me To The River<\/h4>\n

Before COVID-19 hit, Tjon-A-Joe trained in Coral Springs, Fla., alongside Brazilian sprinter Bruno Fratus.<\/strong> But the pandemic\u2019s global shutdown forced him to make decisions about where he\u2019d spend the weeks and possibly months that would follow.<\/p>\n

\"IMG-20200704-WA0000\"

Renzo Tjon-A-Joe poses with Suriname’s all-time best swimmer Antony Nesty. Photo Courtesy: Renzo Tjon-A-Joe<\/p><\/div>\n

While some swimmers \u2013 among them Carter, who stayed put near his training base in San Diego<\/a> \u2013 remained in the States, Tjon-A-Joe boarded a repatriation flight to Suriname in late March. He then underwent a compulsory two-week quarantine, holed up in a hotel room where he watched months of training gains melt away, trying to salvage what he could with pushups and crunches.<\/p>\n

Those gains were significant. Renzo Tjon-A-Joe was coming off a strong 2019 season. His best 50 free time of 22.24, from the Toyota U.S. Open, was one-hundredth back of his time in Rio and within .06 of his personal best. He also set a personal-best of 49.29 at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Richmond last August. Both are Olympic consideration cuts. He added a finals appearance in the 50 at the 2019 Pan American Games<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Many facilities in Suriname have remained open for Tjon-A-Joe to stay in the water. But when the lockdown intensified in early June, he headed for open water: The Suriname River, a return to his roots that Tjon-A-Joe relished.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrior to me going to the U.S. when I was a bit younger, there was a lot of swimming in the river,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it was kind of nice to have that free time again. We have a family house close by the river that I used to swim in, and I just kind of went back in it, swimming across the Suriname River current. It\u2019s kind of like the most endless pool there is. Swimming against the current, I quite enjoy it. And if you swim in a river that houses piranhas and river monsters, I feel like you can swim in any kind of environment. That fear factor that comes with it, it\u2019s fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the biggest training adjustments has been the absence of Fratus. The veteran Brazilian sprinter and Tjon-A-Joe have a long training partnership, most recently in Coral Springs under coach Michelle Lenhardt,<\/strong> also Fratus\u2019 wife. Without someone to work with, Tjon-A-Joe has had to summon internal sources of motivation in the pool and gym.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been tough since I do enjoy training with Bruno,\u201d Tjon-A-Joe said. \u201cHe\u2019s such a professional, and if you see someone like that performing at the top of the world and still showing up every day and pushing himself and me being right beside him through that process, and now it\u2019s me having to do that by myself. I know he was used to training alone and that\u2019s kind of what I\u2019m learning to do right now. It definitely has a different mental aspect to it, but it is rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was the kind of swimmer that I really liked training alone and just me and my coach in the swimming pool. With him it is different,\u201d Fratus said in May of Tjon-A-Joe<\/a>. \u201cWe have a friendship that goes way back to maybe 2014 or 2015. So if I had to choose someone that was working with me daily then it would be him for sure. He is very talented \u2013 a nice kid and a hard working athlete. So I\u2019m glad to have someone like him. The kid can go! He can really swim so we have a lot of fun workouts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feeling at Home<\/h4>\n

It didn\u2019t take long for COVID-19 to hit close to home for Tjon-A-Joe. Suriname\u2019s first fatality from the disease was Rik Schuitemaker<\/strong> on April 3<\/a>. He was a family friend, someone he knew well from Schuitemaker\u2019s work with the country\u2019s Chamber of Commerce and its swimming federation.<\/p>\n

Schuitemaker\u2019s daughters, Tjon-A-Joe said, were unable to come back from the Netherlands to attend funeral services. Such a situation weighed Tjon-A-Joe, with his parents back in Suriname, and he couldn\u2019t countenance the possibility of something happening while he was unable to reach them.<\/p>\n

Tjon-A-Joe, who turns 25 next week, had anticipated returning to his studies after the Olympics this summer, a plan pushed indefinitely into the future. But he\u2019s gaining hands-on experience at home.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s active in venture capital, with interests in the nation\u2019s real estate market and its growing supplies of natural resources, including oil.<\/p>\n

How long he\u2019ll stay in Suriname remains a question. Travel restrictions remain in place globally, and Florida is currently absorbing an explosion of COVID-19 cases.<\/p>\n

Until meets restart, Renzo Tjon-A-Joe is making the most of his time. He carries an economist\u2019s sensibility: He\u2019s one of his country\u2019s biggest sporting assets, and while he works toward success in the pool, he\u2019s also eager to take how he represents Suriname on the global stage and translate it into other areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cSports and business go hand-in-hand, and I haven\u2019t had the opportunity to lay a foothold in the Surinamese business world, and that\u2019s how I\u2019ve been spending the bulk of my free time in Suriname,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 I believe Suriname has a bright future, and as a Surinamese native, I intend to be a part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Renzo Tjon-A-Joe weighed the possibility of an elite swimming career in his late teens, he knew it would require leaving his native Suriname. To work his way into the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8367,"featured_media":438698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,122077],"tags":[122627,28888,13872,120856,121252,25617,123402,83529,5528,124099,7419,63887],"class_list":["post-438632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-americas","tag-2021-tokyo-olympics","tag-bruno-fratus","tag-coral-springs","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-dylan-carter","tag-michelle-lenhardt","tag-renzo-tjon-a-joe","tag-suriname","tag-suriname-swimming","tag-tokyo-olympics","tag-tyr-pro-swim-series"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nBack in Suriname, Renzo Tjon-A-Joe Is Hard at Work In and Out of Water<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When Renzo Tjon-A-Joe weighed the possibility of an elite swimming career in his late teens, he knew it would require leaving his native Suriname.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Back in Suriname, Renzo Tjon-A-Joe Is Hard at Work In and Out of Water\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When Renzo Tjon-A-Joe weighed the possibility of an elite swimming career in his late teens, he knew it would require leaving his native Suriname.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Swimming World\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-04T23:43:45+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-05T14:33:41+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Renzo.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"923\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"723\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Matthew De George - Senior Writer\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sportsdoctormd\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Matthew De George - Senior Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Matthew De George - Senior Writer\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/aff20a2913cc03a514d0343a4c8788f3\"},\"headline\":\"Back in Suriname, Renzo Tjon-A-Joe Is Hard at Work In and Out of Water\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-04T23:43:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-05T14:33:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/\"},\"wordCount\":1244,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Renzo.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"2021 Tokyo Olympics\",\"Bruno Fratus\",\"Coral Springs\",\"coronavirus\",\"Covid-19\",\"Dylan Carter\",\"Michelle Lenhardt\",\"Renzo Tjon A Joe\",\"Suriname\",\"Suriname swimming\",\"Tokyo Olympics\",\"TYR Pro Swim Series\"],\"articleSection\":[\"-Home Slider\",\"Americas\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/\",\"name\":\"Back in Suriname, Renzo Tjon-A-Joe Is Hard at Work In and Out of Water\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Renzo.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-04T23:43:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-05T14:33:41+00:00\",\"description\":\"When Renzo Tjon-A-Joe weighed the possibility of an elite swimming career in his late teens, he knew it would require leaving his native Suriname.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Renzo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Renzo.jpg\",\"width\":923,\"height\":723,\"caption\":\"Photo Courtesy: Renzo Tjon-A-Joe\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Back in Suriname, Renzo Tjon-A-Joe Is Hard at Work In and Out of Water\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"description\":\"The Global Leader in Aquatic News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"width\":1799,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"Swimming World\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/aff20a2913cc03a514d0343a4c8788f3\",\"name\":\"Matthew De George - Senior Writer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cfca9cef277cfa1a9f4150330ba69a2?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cfca9cef277cfa1a9f4150330ba69a2?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Matthew De George - Senior Writer\"},\"description\":\"Matthew De George is the Americas Correspondent for Swimming World Magazine. He's the author of two books on swimming, Duels in the Pool and Pooling Talent. He's also the assistant sports editor for the Delaware County Daily Times in Pennsylvania, where he covers high school and college sports as well as the Philadelphia Union. His work has also appeared in The Guardian and The Athletic.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.swimmingworld.com\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/sportsdoctormd\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/mattdg\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Back in Suriname, Renzo Tjon-A-Joe Is Hard at Work In and Out of Water","description":"When Renzo Tjon-A-Joe weighed the possibility of an elite swimming career in his late teens, he knew it would require leaving his native Suriname.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Back in Suriname, Renzo Tjon-A-Joe Is Hard at Work In and Out of Water","og_description":"When Renzo Tjon-A-Joe weighed the possibility of an elite swimming career in his late teens, he knew it would require leaving his native Suriname.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/","og_site_name":"Swimming World","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","article_published_time":"2020-07-04T23:43:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-07-05T14:33:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":923,"height":723,"url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Renzo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Matthew De George - Senior Writer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@sportsdoctormd","twitter_site":"@swimmingworld","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Matthew De George - Senior Writer","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/"},"author":{"name":"Matthew De George - Senior Writer","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/aff20a2913cc03a514d0343a4c8788f3"},"headline":"Back in Suriname, Renzo Tjon-A-Joe Is Hard at Work In and Out of Water","datePublished":"2020-07-04T23:43:45+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-05T14:33:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/"},"wordCount":1244,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Renzo.jpg","keywords":["2021 Tokyo Olympics","Bruno Fratus","Coral Springs","coronavirus","Covid-19","Dylan Carter","Michelle Lenhardt","Renzo Tjon A Joe","Suriname","Suriname swimming","Tokyo Olympics","TYR Pro Swim Series"],"articleSection":["-Home Slider","Americas"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/","name":"Back in Suriname, Renzo Tjon-A-Joe Is Hard at Work In and Out of Water","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Renzo.jpg","datePublished":"2020-07-04T23:43:45+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-05T14:33:41+00:00","description":"When Renzo Tjon-A-Joe weighed the possibility of an elite swimming career in his late teens, he knew it would require leaving his native Suriname.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Renzo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Renzo.jpg","width":923,"height":723,"caption":"Photo Courtesy: Renzo Tjon-A-Joe"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/back-in-suriname-renzo-tjon-a-joe-is-hard-at-work-in-and-out-of-water\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Back in Suriname, Renzo Tjon-A-Joe Is Hard at Work In and Out of Water"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","name":"Swimming World","description":"The Global Leader in Aquatic News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization","name":"Swimming World","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","width":1799,"height":900,"caption":"Swimming World"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld","https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/aff20a2913cc03a514d0343a4c8788f3","name":"Matthew De George - Senior Writer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cfca9cef277cfa1a9f4150330ba69a2?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cfca9cef277cfa1a9f4150330ba69a2?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","caption":"Matthew De George - Senior Writer"},"description":"Matthew De George is the Americas Correspondent for Swimming World Magazine. He's the author of two books on swimming, Duels in the Pool and Pooling Talent. He's also the assistant sports editor for the Delaware County Daily Times in Pennsylvania, where he covers high school and college sports as well as the Philadelphia Union. His work has also appeared in The Guardian and The Athletic.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.swimmingworld.com","https:\/\/x.com\/sportsdoctormd"],"url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/mattdg\/"}]}},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"Photo Courtesy: Renzo Tjon-A-Joe","source_text":"","source_url":""},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Renzo.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p56Jja-1Q6I","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8367"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=438632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/438698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=438632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=438632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=438632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}