Van der Velden and Visser representing ARUBA

Van der Velden and Visser representing ARUBA
Nicole van der Velden (21) and Thijs Visser (26) are representing Aruba at the Olympic Games in Rio the Janeiro in August 2016. Van der Velden and Visser qualified their country at the Nacra17 Worlds in July 2015 by finishing in the top ten. They are the first athletes in the history of Aruba to qualify the country for the Olympics. 

Van der Velden and Visser started sailing together in the Nacra 17 in January of 2014. So it’s been a bit more then 2 years by now. Our best result was placing 7th at the 2015 World Championships in Arhus. This was also the most memorable as we also qualified the country and ourself by obtaining this result.

What do you like best about the Olympic sailing Venue?
It’s really diverse! In the bay the sailing conditions are extremely different as outside. You can all types of water and wind conditions there which makes it really hard but also keeps it interesting and fun. 

Follow Nicole van der Velden and ThijsVisser on their Road to Rio!

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