Pieter Timmers

Pieter Timmers
Personal information
Full name Pieter Timmers
National team  Belgium
Born (1988-01-21) 21 January 1988
Neerpelt, Belgium
Height 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)
Weight 89 kg (196 lb)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Freestyle
Club Brabo Antwerp[1]
Coach Ronald Gaastra[1]

Pieter Timmers (born 21 January 1988) is a Belgian competitive swimmer who specializes in sprint freestyle events.[1][2] He currently holds nine Belgian records, and seven national titles in long and short course freestyle (50, 100, and 200). Timmers is currently a resident athlete for Brabo Antwerp, and trains under his personal coach Ronald Gaastra.[1][3] He stands 2.00 m (6 ft 6 1⁄2 in), and weighs 89 kg (196 lb).[1]

Career

Timmers qualified for three swimming events at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, by clearing a FINA B-standard entry time of 48.92 (100 m freestyle) from the Belgian Championships in Antwerp, just a 0.10-second deficit from an A-cut and a Belgian record held by Yoris Grandjean.[4][5] He also teamed up with Dieter Dekoninck, Emmanuel Vanluchene, and Jasper Aerents in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay. Swimming the anchor leg, Timmers recorded a fastest split of 48.18, but the Belgian team rounded out the finale to last place in 3:14.40.[6][7]

On the fourth day of the Games, Timmers competed in two different events with 90 minutes in between. In the 100 m freestyle, he topped the seventh heat by beating seven other swimmers, including two-time Olympic champion Yannick Agnel of France. Swimming in lane eight and standing at two metres tall, he blasted a new Belgian record of 48.54 to pick up a matching sixth seed with Cayman Islands' Brett Fraser from the preliminary heats.[8][9] Followed by the evening session, Timmers fell short in his bid for the final, as he matched a twelfth-place finish with Australia's James Roberts in his semifinal run, outside a record time of 48.57.[10] Timmers placed twelfth as a member of the Belgian team in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. Teaming with Dekoninck, Louis Croenen, and Glenn Surgeloose, Timmers anchored the race with a split of 1:48.28 to set a Belgian record of 7:14.44 in the heats.[11]

At the 2012 European Short Course Swimming Championships in Chartres, France, Timmers earned his first two career medals in an international level. In the 200 m freestyle, he touched second behind Agnel with a new short-course Belgian record of 1:43.08.[12][13] Timmers also solidified his Belgian team (Vanluchene, Grandjean, and Aerents) with a bronze in the 4×50 m freestyle relay, posting their time of 1:25.60.[12]

At the 2016 Olympics Timmers became Vice-Olympic Champion in the men's 100 freestyle. He finished the race with a time of 47.80, breaking his own Belgian Record and awarded with a silver medal. He also swam the 4 x 100 relay team to a 6th place in a new Belgian Record, and the team also finished 8th in the 4x200 freestyle relay.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Pieter Timmers". London 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  2. ↑ "Pieter Timmers". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  3. ↑ "Ronald Gaastra: "Finale kan voor Pieter Timmers"" [Ronald Gaastra: "Pieter Timmers may reach the finale"] (in Dutch). Gazet van Antwerpen. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  4. ↑ "Qualifying Athletes – Men's 100 m freestyle" (PDF). FINA. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  5. ↑ "Kimberly Buys plaatst zich op 100 meter vlinderslag voor Olympische Spelen" [Kimberly Buys place within 100 meters butterfly for Olympics] (in Dutch). Het Nieuwsblad. 22 January 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  6. ↑ "Men's 4×100m Freestyle Relay Final". London 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  7. ↑ "2012 London Olympics: Four Years After Being on Wrong End of History, French Anchor Way to Men's 400-meter Freestyle Relay Triumph". Swimming World Magazine. 29 July 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  8. ↑ "2012 London Olympics: Nathan Adrian Blasts Top Time in Men's 100 Free Prelims; World-Record Holder Cesar Cielo Makes Semis; Cullen Jones Qualifies Ninth". Swimming World Magazine. 29 July 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  9. ↑ "Men's 100m Freestyle Heat 7". London 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  10. ↑ "Men's 100m Freestyle Semifinal 2". London 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  11. ↑ "Men's 4×200m Freestyle Relay Heat 2". London 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  12. 1 2 "Hannah Miley, Rikke Moeller Pedersen set Euro records on last night of Euro Short Course Champs". Swimming World Magazine. 25 November 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  13. ↑ "Euro : deuxième médaille d'argent belge grâce à Pieter Timmers sur 200 m nage libre" [Euro: Second silver medal for Belgium with Pieter Timmers in the 200m freestyle] (in French). L'Avenir. 25 November 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
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