Sharon van Rouwendaal has secured a luxury ‘assistant’ for the European Championships open water swimming in Italy. None other than three-time Olympic champion Ranomi Kromowidjojo helped Van Rouwendaal on Monday with her training off the coast of Lido di Ostia, near Rome.
“I arrived in Rome for the European Championships and found a new assistant coach this morning,” the swimmer wrote on her social media with some photos. It shows that Kromowidjojo, who was born and raised in Sauwerd, indicates a set of flippers to her on the starting pontoon.
28-year-old Van Rouwendaal won the world title in the 10 kilometers for the first time at the World Championships in Budapest last month, the distance on which she already won Olympic gold at the Rio 2016 Games. Van Rouwendaal took bronze in the 25 kilometers. Only in the 5 kilometers (tenth) did she miss the medals.
Van Rouwendaal has also registered for all distances at the European Championships in Rome. The event starts for the open water swimmers on Thursday with the 10 kilometers, followed a day later by the 5 kilometers. They close the European Championship on Saturday with the 25 kilometers.