Haarlemmer Freek van der Ham (18) is storming the skating top after successes at the National All-round Championships

Freek rode on behalf of Team TalentNED at the National Allround Championships in Thialf, Heerenveen last weekend. There he won the three kilometers with a PR and the five kilometers and took the silver medal with a PR in the one and a half kilometers. He finished fifteenth in the 500 meters, but with a PR.

“First of all, I am incredibly proud that we succeeded,” says Freek from Haarlem, looking back at NH. “This has taken quite a lot of work. I have trained and learned a lot in recent months.” So what exactly has changed? “I have taken a lot of steps, especially in the mental part. For example, keeping my thoughts calm and not letting myself be driven crazy. But also daring to win.”

Learn to win

The latter did not come naturally to the skater who did his first laps on the ice at IJsclub Haarlem. He explains how you do that, learning to win. “That’s a combination of a number of things. It’s talking to the right people and training. You also have to train so much that you think you have the engine and the body to win. You have to switch the switch: don’t just watch where the ship founders, but think: ‘Now I want to win.'”

That was also the key this weekend, Freek thinks. “I really wanted to win. Since September I have shown that I am in shape and that I could possibly do it. I went to the National All-round National Championships with a lot of self-confidence.”

Freek currently lives in Enschede, in a house owned by his team TalentNED. He lives there with eleven other skaters and five mountain bikers. They do everything together: training, eating and also learning to take care of themselves.

“TalentNED is a kind of intermediate step to prepare you for an independent life. We learn to stand on our own two feet. If you cannot do your own laundry or cook food, it will be difficult for you.”

The skater is not yet a professional, but he is close to it. To take the final step, he also decided in December to deregister from his business administration studies.

“It was no longer possible to combine it. I decided to stop purely for the top sport. I noticed that I got a lot more rest once I stopped, I could focus my mind on skating a lot more. In the end it is was the right choice. I can now take better care of my equipment and also relax more.”

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Because of his good performance, Freek is allowed to attend the World Cup competitions (on February 3 and 4) and the World Championships for Juniors on the long track in Japan (from February 9 to 11). Freek has never had to travel so far for his sport: “The furthest so far was Italy in December.”

The TeamNED skaters will leave in a week and a half, but will start preparing for the long journey earlier. “We have received a complete protocol from the KNSB (the Royal Dutch Ice Skating Association). Five days in advance we start going to bed earlier and getting up earlier. We also adjust our training rhythm so that we are not overwhelmed by jet lag. “

He expects tough competition, especially at the World Cup. “Sigurd Henriksen from Norway has already competed with the seniors, but is now participating again in the World Junior Championships. The Canadians are also participating, they were not there in Italy. It will be tough.”