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Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n
Kamminga, who is coached by Mark Faber<\/strong> at the National Centre in Amsterdam, got his programme at the Rotterdam Qualification Meet off to a flying start with a new national record of 26.88 in the 50br.<\/a><\/p>\n
The 25-year-old returned the following morning to fire off a notice of intent in the 200 when he lowered his PB by 0.01 to 2:01.17 in the heats.<\/p>\n
That moved him up to joint sixth all-time alongside Josh Prenot<\/strong> of the United States and demonstrated that racing fast in the morning is no issue to Kamminga.<\/p>\n
Not that early finals in Tokyo seven months from now played any part in his approach.<\/p>\n
He explained:<\/p>\n
\u201cSince I started with Mark four years ago, every race is all the way! I\u2019m not doing the 90% prelims just to make the final, I\u2019ll always go fast.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s not necessarily for Tokyo \u2013 that\u2019s what I always do. But especially now because I don\u2019t have that many competitions I just saw it as having two opportunities to crack 2:07.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I went for it in the morning, it hurt like hell \u2013 way, way worse than the afternoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI finished it in the morning and I was 2:07.1 and I was like \u2018oh yeah, this is right where I want to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cSlowly I am getting there step by step but it felt great finally breaking that 2:07.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala \/ Deepbluemedia \/ Insidefoto<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n
It came exactly a year to the day that Kamminga claimed his first individual medal in international waters with silver in the 50br at the European Short-Course Championships<\/strong> in Glasgow.<\/p>\n
It has been some 12 months for the 25-year-old who became the third-fastest man in history over 100br when he clocked 58.43 in Antwerp<\/a> in March to stand behind only Adam Peaty<\/strong> (56.88) and Ilya Shymanovich<\/strong> (58.29).<\/p>\n
On Saturday he completed the breaststroke treble<\/a> by firing off a 58.69 over 100m.<\/p>\n
He said:<\/p>\n
\u201cI expected to be a bit faster. Not just after the 200 but I also had a great 50 and in practice I\u2019ve been really focused on the 100.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut this was getting used to racing back to back. We\u2019ve been doing races in practice the last couple of months but it\u2019s always been one or two days.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was the third day: I really felt great and the swimming was good, I was just tired. Especially the 2:06 really took a toll.<\/p>\n
“This was going from practice into an actual meet and pushing myself all the way every single time. That was just different.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been doing it for the last couple of months and normally I can cope with it pretty well.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow it was tough \u2013 still 58.6 isn\u2019t bad! But I think I can go much faster than this.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n
The meet in Rotterdam was welcome on several fronts in a year when the effects of the coronavirus resulted in the Olympics being postponed until July 2021.<\/p>\n
The ripple effect in the sport saw elite athletes out of the pool for both training and competition.<\/p>\n
Kamminga returned to training in the Dutch capital and competed against the high-performance group.<\/p>\n
There was a meet in Hengelo in August which \u201cdidn\u2019t go as great\u201d, a training camp in Rome in September and October as well as a trip to the Gloria facilities in Turkey.<\/p>\n
Rotterdam though was the first competition for which Kamminga rested and tapered with everyone involved in the event tested twice for Covid-19 in the days before.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was the first time I\u2019ve done any multiple-day meets since Antwerp.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe said beforehand this is either going to be a hit or a miss just because I am used to racing a lot and coming from competitions and then having some rest instead of practice \u2013 but it obviously was a big hit.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Nobody is really sure what comes next. Hopefully there will be some international meets in the opening months of 2021 with plans to compete at the Swim Cup Eindhoven in April, the European Championships in Budapest, the Mare Nostrum and Sette Colli before heading to Tokyo.<\/p>\n
Kamminga though wants just one thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just need some racing \u2013 I am really craving some racing.<\/p>\n
“I love racing the big guys out there. I love racing Anton or the Japanese guys or anyone at the same level. I want to be pushed every single time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mostly train alone \u2013 all the breaststroke sets \u2013 so I know how to listen to my body and I know how to swim well. But I am just waiting right now to finally race again with the big guys.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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