Willem grew up in San Sebastian in Spain, and so learnt to swim in the sea. He did not swim competitively as a child, but started swimming regularly in his early 20s on his doctor’s recommendation, after being diagnosed with mild scoliosis. Over the years he improved his technique through watching videos and learning about Total Immersion – he even taught himself to flip turn and a bit of (poor) fly. Willem is very proud of training himself to get under 80 mins for the 5k Swimathon event in 2013. He met Sara through their daughters, and in 2015 she suggested that Willem should try a Spencer training session. His first two hour session was exhausting but he loved the challenge, and he now trains with us a couple of times a week. Although Willem has always enjoyed freestyle, through Spencer he has discovered that his breaststroke is also pretty strong – fly and backstroke, not so much, although his current target is to improve his IM. Willem also loves open water swimming and has competed in a few 3k open sea swims back home in San Sebastián and nearby Getaria-Zarautz. Away from the pool he runs his own branding and design consultancy and has three children – his son currently trains with Dulwich Dolphins and easily beats his father at fly! “Joining Spencer was such a great idea. I’ve learnt so much not just about swimming but also about myself. I had no idea how competitive I could be. Seeing progress is really exciting – on the back of a lot of hard work and the excellent direction of the coaches.”
