Inge de Bruijn

De Bruijn in 2008
Personal information
Full name	Inge de Bruijn
National team	Netherlands
Born	(1973-08-24) 24 August 1973 (age 50) Barendrecht, Netherlands
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	60 kg (132 lb; 9 st 6 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 2000 Sydney[1] 50 m freestyle 2000 Sydney 100 m freestyle 2000 Sydney 100 m butterfly 2004 Athens[2] 50 m freestyle 2000 Sydney 4×100 m freestyle 2004 Athens 100 m freestyle 2004 Athens 100 m butterfly 2004 Athens 4×100 m freestyle World Championships (LC) 2001 Fukuoka 50 m freestyle 2001 Fukuoka 100 m freestyle 2001 Fukuoka 50 m butterfly 2003 Barcelona[3] 50 m freestyle 2003 Barcelona 50 m butterfly 1991 Perth 4×100 m freestyle World Championships (SC) 1999 Hong Kong 50 m freestyle 1999 Hong Kong 4×100 m freestyle 1999 Hong Kong 50 m butterfly European Championships (LC) 1991 Athens 4×100 m freestyle 1999 Istanbul 50 m freestyle 1999 Istanbul 100 m butterfly 1991 Athens 100 m butterfly 1999 Istanbul 100 m freestyle 1991 Athens 50 m freestyle 1991 Athens 4×100 m medley 1993 Sheffield 50 m freestyle European Championships (SC) 1991 Gelsenkirchen 50 m butterfly 1998 Sheffield 50 m freestyle 1998 Sheffield 50 m butterfly 2001 Antwerp 50 m freestyle 2001 Antwerp 100 m freestyle 1992 Espoo 50 m butterfly 1998 Sheffield 4×50 m freestyle 2001 Antwerp 4×50 m freestyle 1998 Sheffield 100 m butterfly 1998 Sheffield 4×50 m medley 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.

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
WC 1991		10th		8th		4th
OG 1992	8th			9th	5th[a]	8th
EC 1993		12th		4th	7th
WC 1994				7th		6th
EC 1995	4th			4th	6th
OG 1996
EC 1997
WC 1998		8th		7th	5th	6th
EC 1999					4th	4th
EC 2000
OG 2000
WC 2001
EC 2002
WC 2003
EC 2004		6th
OG 2004						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.^[4]

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