Ans Timmermans

Dutch competitive swimmer Ans Timmermans joined the Rotterdamsche Dames-Zwemclub when she was 13. A year later, in 1933, Timmermans became the national champion in the 5 x 50 metres medley relay, in addition to finishing second in the 300 metres individual medley. In 1934 she won more titles at the Dutch championships and was part of the quartet that broke the world record in the 4 x 100 metres freestyle. The same team of Timmermans, Jopie Selbach, Rie Mastenbroek, and Willy den Ouden then won gold in the 4 × 100 metres freestyle relay at the European Championships. Two years later Timmermans reached the semi-finals in the 400 metres freestyle at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Just after the start of World War II she married her husband, with the pair moving to the Dutch East Indies, before eventually settling in Australia where they founded a swimming school. Sadly Timmermans was only 39-years-old when she was killed in a car accident in 1958 in Melbourne.