Jan Stender

Jan Stender (7 May 1906 – 20 October 1989) was a Dutch swimming coach. During the 1940s–1950s he coached at least eight world record holders who set more than 50 world records in total. In 1973, he was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame. He soon became known for arduous fitness routines where significant time was spent out of the pool. His first success was the silver medal by Tonny Bijland in 200 m breaststroke at the 1939 national championships – the first medal in the history of the club.

After World War II, he raised his first international star, Nel van Vliet, a European (1947) and Olympic (1948) gold medalist who set 13 world records in 1946–1947. However, the next year brought him a great upset: none of them could compete in the 1956 Summer Olympics because of its boycott by the Dutch government.

In 1973, at the age 67, Stender was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame. He celebrated this event by running 20 times around the Hall of Fame campus (ca. 7 miles). During those years he was still swimming, spending an hour in a gym and running 13 km daily.