Two frightened eyes look at Mark. Whether he is sometimes the reincarnation of Sjoerd Huisman, asks a stranger man on the ice rink in Hoorn. A smile appears on the face of the younger brother of the marathon skater, who suddenly died in 2013. “There are fewer and fewer people who have skated with him, but he has certainly not forgotten.”
Where is Huisman, the sports comment sounds. Huisman is coming, Huisman in black.
It is an iconic moment in Dutch sports history. January 8, 2009.
For the first time in thirteen years, a skating marathon is being driven on natural ice. Everyone with only a little heart for the sport is on the edge of his chair.
After more than 100 kilometers of toil through the fog on the Oostvaardersplassen, the mass sprint is used.
Sjoerd Huisman, then 23 years old, everyone passes by. The ‘acrobat of the ice’ becomes Dutch champion.
After the finish he falls to his knees, glides over the ice, fists balded.
“I never really asked him if he had already thought of all this before, stupid, but it would not surprise me. Only a hand in the air was nothing for him. This is typically Sjoerd.”
Mark, 35, sits at the dining table of his house in the village of De Rijp in North Holland. His youngest daughter, blond curls, waddles through the room with a coloring book.
He looks at a replica of the bronze statue of that finish. The most euphoric moment in the far too short life of Sjoerd.
On the side there is competition number 24. The skating association no longer spent since his death.
Skating on the ditch in Andijk
Sjoerd is three years older than Mark. And yet as little boys they often played together.
“Then we went skating on the ditch behind our house in Andijk with our other brother Remko. Or to the Ice Rink De Toemer in the village. Then drink hot chocolate in the canteen.”
Yet Sjoerd, as the only one of the skating family Huisman, initially wanted to play football. “He was athletic built. Sporty.”
He did not do the ball sport without merit, but also noticed that he was dependent on the performance of others. And also saw how his older sister Mariska achieved great successes on the ice.
“When he saw her coming home with all the cups and medals, he wanted that too. He wanted to win prizes.”
He turns out, witness one nice column from skating journalist Carl Mureau, one of the fastest sprinters of his generation.
Mark remembers the rides in the car to the Alkmaarse IJsclub. Training on the then some large ice rink in the region.
Sjoerd opts for the long distances among the seniors. With skating, but also on the inline skates, he also wins several ‘cups and medals’.
Comeback after accident
“Sjoerd did everything in his own way. By feeling. He actually did what he felt like. But always with great pleasure.”
In April 2011, the Blonde West Frisian will be unwell behind the wheel on the way to the NK rollerblading. He bumps into a stationary car.
He survives the accident, but after that it goes less with the Noord-Hollander.
“But actually he was almost recovered that December. His speed was back. He had just skated another competition and the Dutch championship in January seemed promising.”
Than. Mark’s phone, then 24, goes on December 30, 2013. It is Sjoerd’s girlfriend.
“She didn’t get him and he didn’t open the door either. I was already on my way to his house in Avenhorn.”
He falls silent for a moment at the table in De Rijp. Mark’s daughter crawls on his lap with him. “As if I already felt it or something.”
His brother Sjoerd Huisman dies at the age of 27 from an acute heart attack.
The entire sports world is in shock.
“It felt like a bad dream,” says Mark about it. “The world dropped under my feet. And then the world stood still for a long time.”
Hey Brother, There’s An Endless Road to Re-DiscoverOn January 3, the Westfries ice rink echoes in Hoorn.
Hey Brother of Avicii
His brothers are walking in front of Sjoerd’s coffin.
“We always said brother Against each other. And the song Hey Brother from Avicii had come out just before his death, so that’s why we had selected this. Or Sjoerd had it ever heard? That is necessary, he was so often in the car to the ice rink with the radio on. “
It is his very last round that evening. Mark: “I think it has never been so busy. There were really huge many people. That did us well.”
He still speaks through the microphone that day, but now no longer knows the words.
Sjoerds teammate Erik Hulzebosch sings a song and director of the skating association Arie Koops calls him a valued and popular sportsman.
“There was no one who could connect top sport with sports participation like Sjoerd. Children walked away with him. He was their hero, but still touchable for everyone. A big champion, but didn’t feel too big for anyone.”
Caring uncle
The Legacy of the Andijker lives on in that bronze statue on the table with Mark. Every year a copy of this ‘Sjoerd Huisman Bokaal’ is awarded to the winner of the Hoorn marathon.
During that presentation last November, the West Frisian ice rink was that a stranger man with frightened eyes is getting on Mark and calls him his ‘reincarnation’.
“He also said that I could be a brother of Sjoerd. I said: well, then I have nice news for you.”
Within the Huisman family, the high word of Sjoerd is missed. “He was always of talking. We also called every other day. He was special. That he died, pure bad luck.”
The little girl with the blonde curls and her drawing book asks for attention again. Mark shows a page. “Look Flo, you can still color these skating dolls.”
Someday they will also see how bad her father looks like his brother. “When I look at my children, I wonder what kind of Uncle Sjoerd had been. I think a very nice and caring one. One that puts pleasure above everything else.”