BlubPortret: Richard Schoonhoven

Richard Schoonhoven

Wat is voor jou volmaakt geluk?

De (vaak) onverwachte momenten waarop je beseft hoe gelukkig en tevreden je mag zijn. De momenten samen met vrienden, een warme zomerdag, dankbaarheid van anderen.

Wanneer en waar was je het gelukkigst?

In 2019 produceerde ik een tweede uitverkochte concertreeks van Journey through Black Gospel. De realisatie dat, na een jaar hard werken, alle puzzelstukken samenvielen en ik samen met veel anderen op het podium kon genieten.

Wat is je favoriete reis?

Als tourproducent ging ik in 2019 anderhalve maand naar het veelkleurige ZuidAfrika: van de luxe restaurants in Kaapstad tot de sloppenwijken in Soweto, van safari in Pilanesberg tot Kaap de Goede Hoop.

Je mag één ding aan jezelf veranderen. Wat zou dat zijn?

Om naast een avondmens óók een ochtendmens te zijn.

Waar zou je willen wonen?

Amsterdam zal ik niet zo snel achter mij laten, maar een zomerse plek om te overwinteren grijp ik met beide handen aan!

Welke mensen bewonder je?

Mensen die het beste in anderen naar boven halen.

Wat is je meest typerende eigenschap?

Enthousiast, ambitieus en zorgzaam.

For old times' sake

Sometimes old stories are fun to retell, so we pulled something from an old March 2001 BlubBlad belonging to a swimmer we now know well as our expert and sometimes 'strict' trainer.

What a girl should know

A novice competitive swimmer can forget a lot.

Yolanda Mante

F

or a swimmer that is new to competition, a masters tournament is actually very hard work. You have to stock up on bathing suits, because it is not good to stroll along the pool in the same piece of Lycra the whole time. In addition, you should not forget a whole laundry list of equipment , especially if you are as blind as I am. I now own six pair of goggles, one of which is with prescription.

When I heard from Thijs (former chairman) that prescription glasses existed, I rushed straight to the store. With such a small adjustment, it makes swimming much more enjoyable by being able to see more than vague spots in the water and to recognize people from more than five centimeters away. The only drawback is that with a little dive, these goggles immediately hang at half past six, so they are unsuitable for a competition. But, that's what I have the other five pair for; which may or may not be stuffed under my cap (sorry; swimming cap). My latest acquisition is Cor's Swedish torture model, but it is still in the bottom of the cupboard as a kit.

Good, to the point Heerenveen February 17, 2001, with seven men and two women (Kees, Gerrit, Alexander, Ferdy, Tom, Uwe, Peter, AnneMarie and Yolanda). This Frisian Heitlan sounds infinitely far away , but in a tight hour and fifteen minutes, we were there. Everyone was determined to score some PR's again and I had a bit of an advantage since I was just starting out. Although new distances are of course not without dangers. It is incredable what you have to remember to do, just by swimming 50 meters back and forth

Inevitably, there will be obstacles and lessons that are learned throughout the day. For example, AnneMarie stopped her race for a few minutes because she showed her bare toes above the water at the start of

the backstroke without realizing it. After some insinuatingly looks from the head referee, it turned out okay and she was able to continue. And ... do you keep your arms above water enough? And what the hell does the code ‘VC’ mean in our butterfly relay? Not to mention the start/dive: jump through that imaginary hoop, keep your hands together, don't let your legs fold over, and keep your buttocks tight that’s a lot to keep in your head while also remembering which stroke you are supposed to do. . Oh well, you'll get used to it eventually and it becomes automatic.

As far as PR's are concerned, I believe only Tom swam one on the butterfly and of course Alexander, Gerrit, Annemarie and I as this was our first time. But, to be

honest, I was not completely there in Heerenveen, because of a migraine attack earlier in the day. As an aside, you should also stay away from Sylvia's delicious chocolate eggs during Friday evening training.

Sigh… what a girl shouldn't know!