Inge de Bruijn

In this Dutch name, the surname is de Bruijn, not Bruijn.

Inge de Bruijn

Error creating thumbnail: De Bruijn in 2008
Personal information
Full name	Inge de Bruijn
National team	Netherlands
Born	(1973-08-24) 24 August 1973 Barendrecht, Netherlands
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	61 kg (134 lb; 9 st 8 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle, butterfly
Medal record Women's swimming Representing the Netherlands Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 4 2 2 World Championships (LC) 5 0 1 World Championships (SC) 1 1 1 European Championships (LC) 3 2 3 European Championships (SC) 5 3 3 Total 18 8 10 Olympic Games File:Olympic rings.svg Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney 50 m freestyle Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney 100 m freestyle Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney 100 m butterfly Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens 50 m freestyle Silver medal – second place 2000 Sydney 4×100 m freestyle Silver medal – second place 2004 Athens 100 m freestyle Bronze medal – third place 2004 Athens 100 m butterfly Bronze medal – third place 2004 Athens 4×100 m freestyle World Championships (LC) Gold medal – first place 2001 Fukuoka 50 m freestyle Gold medal – first place 2001 Fukuoka 100 m freestyle Gold medal – first place 2001 Fukuoka 50 m butterfly Gold medal – first place 2003 Barcelona 50 m freestyle Gold medal – first place 2003 Barcelona 50 m butterfly Bronze medal – third place 1991 Perth 4×100 m freestyle World Championships (SC) Gold medal – first place 1999 Hong Kong 50 m freestyle Silver medal – second place 1999 Hong Kong 4×100 m freestyle Bronze medal – third place 1999 Hong Kong 50 m butterfly European Championships (LC) Gold medal – first place 1991 Athens 4×100 m freestyle Gold medal – first place 1999 Istanbul 50 m freestyle Gold medal – first place 1999 Istanbul 100 m butterfly Silver medal – second place 1991 Athens 100 m butterfly Silver medal – second place 1999 Istanbul 100 m freestyle Bronze medal – third place 1991 Athens 50 m freestyle Bronze medal – third place 1991 Athens 4×100 m medley Bronze medal – third place 1993 Sheffield 50 m freestyle European Championships (SC) Gold medal – first place 1991 Gelsenkirchen 50 m butterfly Gold medal – first place 1998 Sheffield 50 m freestyle Gold medal – first place 1998 Sheffield 50 m butterfly Gold medal – first place 2001 Antwerp 50 m freestyle Gold medal – first place 2001 Antwerp 100 m freestyle Silver medal – second place 1992 Espoo 50 m butterfly Silver medal – second place 1998 Sheffield 4×50 m freestyle Silver medal – second place 2001 Antwerp 4×50 m freestyle Bronze medal – third place 1998 Sheffield 100 m butterfly Bronze medal – third place 1998 Sheffield 4×50 m medley Bronze medal – third place 2001 Antwerp 4×50 m medley

Inge de Bruijn (Dutch: [ˈɪŋə də ˈbrœyn]; born 24 August 1973) is a Dutch former competitive swimmer. She is a four-time Olympic champion and a former world record-holder in multiple swimming events.

Personal

De Bruijn was born in Barendrecht, Netherlands. Inge is the sister of Olympic water polo player Matthijs de Bruijn.

Swimming career

De Bruijn tried several sports before eventually specialising in swimming. De Bruijn debuted at the World Aquatics Championships in January 1991, winning a bronze medal with the 4×100 m relay team, with which she won the gold medal at the European LC Championships in August of that year.

The following year, de Bruijn made her Olympic debut at the 1992 Summer Olympics, and finished 8th in the 100 m and 4×100 m freestyle events. She did not compete at the 1996 Summer Olympics. In 1999, she won the 50 m freestyle at the European Championships. The following year, after having swum several 50 m freestyle world records, she competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. She won the 50 and 100 m freestyle, and the 100 m butterfly, setting world records in all three events. She also won a silver medal with the 4×100 m freestyle relay team. Her nickname became "Invincible Inky".

She was named by Swimming World as the "Female World Swimmer of the Year" in both 2000 and 2001. She won titles in three events at the 2001 World Championships. At the 2003 World Championships, de Bruijn successfully defended her 50 m freestyle and butterfly titles. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens she defended her gold medal in the 50 m free, and took silver in the 100 m free, and two bronze: one in the 100 m butterfly and another in the 4×100 m relay. This made her the oldest individual champion in Olympic swimming history. This record was only surpassed by Anthony Ervin at the age of 36, he won the gold medal for the men's 50m freestyle at the Rio 2016 Olympics. De Bruijn's 2004 title retains its place as the oldest female Olympic champion in swimming history.

With an Olympic medal total of four gold, two silver and two bronze, she is the fourth most successful Dutch Olympian of all time. Moreover, her combined nine individual titles won at the Olympics (four) and World Aquatics Championships (five) were a record for female swimmers until Katie Ledecky won her 10th at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

In March 2007, de Bruijn announced her retirement from competitive swimming.

International championships (50 m)

Meet	50 free	100 free	50 fly	100 fly	4×100 free	4×100 medley
EC 1991	3rd place, bronze medalist(s)			2nd place, silver medalist(s)	1st place, gold medalist(s)	3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
WC 1991		10th		8th	3rd place, bronze medalist(s)	4th
OG 1992	8th			9th	5th[a]	8th
EC 1993	3rd place, bronze medalist(s)	12th		4th	7th
WC 1994				7th		6th
EC 1995	4th			4th	6th
OG 1996
EC 1997
WC 1998		8th		7th	5th	6th
EC 1999	1st place, gold medalist(s)	2nd place, silver medalist(s)		1st place, gold medalist(s)	4th	4th
EC 2000
OG 2000	1st place, gold medalist(s)	1st place, gold medalist(s)		1st place, gold medalist(s)	2nd place, silver medalist(s)
WC 2001	1st place, gold medalist(s)	1st place, gold medalist(s)	1st place, gold medalist(s)
EC 2002
WC 2003	1st place, gold medalist(s)		1st place, gold medalist(s)
EC 2004		6th
OG 2004	1st place, gold medalist(s)	2nd place, silver medalist(s)		3rd place, bronze medalist(s)	3rd place, bronze medalist(s)	6th

^a de Bruijn swam only in the heats

Post-swimming career

De Bruijn resides in Eindhoven, Netherlands, and previously trained in Portland, Oregon.

She was the face for Dutch lingerie brand Sapph, along with kickboxer Remy Bonjasky, the face for the men's line of the brand.

She appeared in a special episode of the Dutch naked dating reality television programme Adam Zkt. Eva VIP.

See also

• List of members of the International Swimming Hall of Fame
• List of Dutch records in swimming
• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists at a single Games
• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists
• List of multiple Summer Olympic medalists
• List of top Olympic gold medalists in swimming
• List of individual gold medalists in swimming at the Olympics and World Aquatics Championships (women)
• World record progression 50 metres freestyle
• World record progression 100 metres freestyle

External links

• Inge de Bruijn at World Aquatics
• Inge de Bruijn at Swimrankings.net
• Inge de Bruijn at Olympedia
• Inge de Bruijn at Olympics.com
• Inge de Bruijn at Olympic.org (archived)
• Inge de Bruijn at NOC*NSF (in Dutch) (English translation)