Ada den Haan

On 13 November 1956, then 15-year-old Ada den Haan lowered the world record in the 200 m breaststroke in her hometown of Naarden, lowering the mark set by Éva Novák by 2.1 seconds. This would normally have made the teenager one of the top contenders for the Melbourne 1956 Olympics, but at that point it was already known that the Netherlands would boycott the Games over the Soviet response to the Hungarian revolt. In fact, the race had been specifically organized by her coach for a world record attempt now that she could not swim in Melbourne.

Over the next few years, den Haan lowered the 200 m breaststroke world record three more times (although with slower times, as the tactic of long underwater periods had been banned after 1956), and in 1958 she won the European title in the event, adding a second gold in the medley relay. In Rome, 1960, den Haan was finally able to compete at the Olympics. She reached the final in both the 200 m breaststroke and the medley relay, but placed fourth on both occasions. In the relay, the Dutch team, anchored by Erica Terpstra, seemed to have narrowly edged out the German squad, but while the jury recorded the same time for both, it ranked the Germans in third. A double Dutch protest - against the finishing order and against the fact the Germans fielded a swimmer not entered in the individual events, as was required - was denied.

For Den Haan, it marked the end of her international career. She later married Martien Swinkels, a swimming coach who would later count world champion Marcel Wouda among his pupils.