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Participants from UM show strength in first Dutch Ironman competition

The first Dutch Ironman triathlon was held in Maastricht on Sunday 2 August. Approximately a thousand professional and amateur athletes from forty-seven countries took on the ultimate challenge by participating in the world’s biggest long-distance sporting event.

Maastricht University was well-represented in the competition, with three participants in the professional class and two Ironman relay teams.

Visit the Ironman website for more information and a complete list of results.

UM alumnus Bas Diederen placed first for the men and Sarissa de Vries, a student at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML), placed second for the women. FHML student Bart Candel unfortunately fell out of the race roughly twenty kilometres into the running portion of the event.

Two UM teams participated in the relay segment, with Edo van der Meer (swimming), Maarten van Kooij (cycling) and Jos Timans (running) placing first. 

The women’s team, consisting of Veronique Vasseur (swimming), Ymke van Buuren (cycling) and Astrid Horstman (running), ended with an impressive second place in the women's ranking and a thirteenth place in the overall relay team ranking.

UM was also well-represented in the amateur segment, with participants including FHML assistant professor, Rik Crutzen.

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