Hans Maier was born to a military family in the Dutch East Indies, where he learned to play water polo from a young age. He moved to Amsterdam in 1934 and, at the time of his selection for Netherlands’ delegation to the 1936 Summer Olympics, was a member of the city’s Het Y. In the preliminary round, the squad placed second in its group, behind eventual bronze-medalist Belgium, by defeating the United States 3-2 and tying both Belgium and Uruguay 1-1. Their tie against Belgium carried over to the semi-finals, where they tied Great Britain 4-4 and lost against Hungary, the eventual Olympic champions, 8-0. Their tie against Great Britain carried over to the classification round, where they bested both Austria and Sweden to finish fifth overall. As the Dutch record holder in the breaststroke events, Maier was a candidate to also compete in swimming in Berlin, but his unusual leg stroke, earlier allowed by the Dutch federation, was not approved by FINA as valid for breaststroke swimming. Outside of sport, Maier studied economics and eventually worked in finance for Shell. He died at the age of 102, making him the oldest living Dutch Olympian at the time.
Netherlands