Highlight: Janissen & Snel

There are a lot of talented people in many fields on the campus of the TU Delft, including Sports. Every month, we put one of our elite athletes in the spotlight. This month, the honour goes to speed skaters Jeroen Janissen and Tijmen Snel.

The speed skating season has started. TU Delft students Jeroen Janissen (Aerospace Engineering) and Tijmen Snel (Mechanical Engineering) look back on their participation in the Dutch Single Distance Championships and tell how they prepared for the races to come.

Jeroen Janissen
Jeroen made his debut at the Dutch Single Distance Championships in Heerenveen at the end of October. It was a wonderful experience, despite the twentieth place at the 1,500 meter. This week he stays in German city Inzell, where he is going to prepare himself for the Olympic Qualification Tournament in the best possible way. Only the twenty best skaters per distance can compete in that tournament and Jeroen hopes he can be part of it.

Also, he’ll participate in the Eindhoven Cup in two weeks. The top two of that tournament qualifies for the Dutch Allround Championships. Because of this he’s focusing less on studying and more on skating at the moment. You can follow Jeroen on Twitter.

Tijmen Snel
Tijmen is another TU Delft student who competed in the Dutch Single Distance Championship at the end of October. He skated personal records, both on the 500 and 1,000 meter. He will skate various races as part of the Holland Cup, with the objective to qualify for the Olympic Qualification Tournament and the Dutch Allround Championships. In preparation of both tournaments, he’ll be in training in Heerenveen next week.

After the qualifiers, he’ll join his team in Collalbo in the Italian Alps for an intensive training camp, to prepare for this season’s main objective: the Dutch Allround Championships. Tijmen, too, needs to plan carefully to combine his study and top-level sport successfully. There’s a chance he’ll miss an exam in the coming period, but he’ll be able to catch up later this year.