2012 Olympic finalist Joeri Verlinden of the Netherlands will soon be changing coaches. Verlinden has been working with coach Martin Truijens, who coached Femke Heemskerk and Manon van Rooijen to Olympic gold.
Verlinden suffered through many setbacks over the last year which included a shoulder injury, a broken wrist and cardiac arrhythmias. In spite of these obstacles Verlinden managed to compete in the European Championships this summer. He had disappointing results at the event finishing seventh in the 100 butterfly posting a time of 52.17 missing his lifetime best of 51.75, which he posted in the semi-finals at the Olympics.
Verlinden finished sixth at the Olympics recording a time of 51.82.
“We have acted carefully and followed a fixed procedure with Joeri,” explained Technical Director Joop Alberda.
“Soon after the disappointing performance at the European Championships we reviewed the situation with Joeri, Martin and the medical staff. This has contributed to the decision of the athlete and coach to part ways.”
It now appears that Verlinden may be nursing another injury in what was his healthy shoulder.
“We will be making a decision based on the advice of the medical staff together with Joeri to determine the correct trajectory on the way to the World Championships in Kazan in 2015 and the Olympics in Rio in 2016,” said Alberda.
I understand Rio is quickly approaching, but this seems premature… The way things sound, after a year like that, I’d be happy to be within half a second of my best time. Still, I’m sure he has his reasons. Hopefully everything works out.