 De Nijs in 1956 | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1939-04-00)April 1939 Hilversum, Netherlands | |||||||||||
| Died | 22 January 2023(2023-01-22) (aged 83) Torroella de Montgrí, Spain | |||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||
| Strokes | Freestyle, backstroke | |||||||||||
| Club | HZC de Robben, Hilversum | |||||||||||
| Coach | Jan Stender | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||
Helena Elisabeth "Lenie" de Nijs (April 1939 – 22 January 2023) was a Dutch swimmer. In July-August 1955 she broke three freestyle world records over 1500 m, 880 yd and 1760 yd distances. She then changed to backstroke, winning three national titles over 100 m (1956–1958) and setting world records in the 200 m backstroke (1957) and4×100 m medley relay events (1956 and 1958); she set her last record while winning the European title in Budapest, together withAda den Haan,Cocky Gastelaars andAtie Voorbij. She qualified for the1956 Summer Olympics, but could not participate due to the boycott of those games by the Netherlands.[1]
As a child, de Nijs was diagnosed with chronicasthma andbronchitis and the doctor advised her to join a sport club to improve health.[2] After retiring from swimming she married the Dutch water polo playerHarry Vriend on 4 October 1963.[3] Her younger sisterJudith was also a world-level swimmer.[4][5]
De Nijs died on 22 January 2023, at the age of 83.[6]
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Women's 1500 metres freestyle world record holder (long course) 23 July 1955 – 21 August 1956 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Women's 200 metres backstroke world record holder (long course) 17 May 1957 – 1 August 1958 | Succeeded by |
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