Lenie De Nijs

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the 20:46.5 World record set by Dutch distance pioneer Lenie de Nijs in the 1500m freestyle in Utrecht. That wiped 10.5sec off the previous standard, which had been held at 20:57.0 by Denmark's Ragnhild Hvegersince August 1941. De Nijs' standard in 1955 was the first set after WWII, ands it lasted just over a year until a 20:22.8 went up in the board in the same Dutch city when De Nijs' Dutch domestic rival Jans Koster claimed the mark. Just a year later, Koster had got the standard down to the cusp of sub-20mins, on 20:03.1 in Hilversum.

Men raced over 1500m freestyle at the Olympics since the start of it all in 1896 (they actually covered 1200m that year), while women waited until 1968 for the 800m free to be added to the program, and 202one for the 1500m free to arrive on the schedule. Wold Championships only began in 1973, while the women's 1500m joined the program in 2001.

De Nijs was one of eight world record holders coached in Hilversum, a town of fewer than 100,000 people, by Jan Stender at the town's HZC de Robben. His pupils included Nel van Vliet, Mary Kok, Geertje Wielema, Hannie Termeulen, Lenie de Nijs, Judith de Nijs (younger sister), Atie Voorbij, Greetje Kraan, Ineke Tigelaar, Rita Tigelaar, Rita Kroon and Herman Willemse. At one stage, most of the pioneers he coached even lived on the same street.

Helena Elisabeth "Lenie" de Nijs was born in April 1939 in Hilversum at the heart of war-torn Europe. As a child, she was diagnosed with chronic asthma and bronchitis and the doctor advised her to join a sport club to improve her health.

In July-August 1955 she broke three freestyle world records, that one over 1500m, as well as two others, over 880yd and 1760yd in the days when those were officially recognised formats/distances. Later, she switched to backstroke, winning three national titles over 100m (1956–1958) and setting world records in the 200m backstroke (1957) and 4×100m medley relays with Dutch mates (1956 and 1958).

De Nijs set her last record to claim European gold in Budapest in 1958, with Ada den Haan, Cocky Gastelaars and Hilversum teammate Atie Voorbij. De Nijs qualified for the Melbourne 1956 Olympics but was denied her chance by the boycott of those games by the Netherlands.

Nothing under the sun: the Netherlands did not participate in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics due to the Soviet Union's invasion of Hungary, which triggered a wave of protests and boycotts. Along with Spain and Switzerland, the Netherlands withdrew to protest the Soviet Union's actions and show solidarity with Hungary.

After retiring from swimming, De Nijs married Dutch water polo player Harry Vriend, on 4 October 1963. She passed away in Torroella de Montgrí, Spain, aged 83 on January 22, 2023.

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