Image Credit: World Rowing
How do you define greatness? A mind-bending feat that surpasses expectation and rationality? A moment of authentic surprise that inverts the weight of pressing odds? Or perhaps an incision in the linear unfurling of your heart?
In sport, we are quick to anoint greatness upon each other. A performance that impresses us is often bestowed the virtue of greatness before it can even truly be understood. It is easy to attach brilliance onto bravery and boldness but sometimes the two should not be conflated. True greatness should combine mastery, magnanimity and more than a hint of magic.
The Olympic Games is our ultimate magic show. A procession of truly elite talent, operating at the pinnacle of their sport and thrust forward into a limelight fostered by four years of relative translucency. These two weeks are stitched into the very fabric of competition, dating back to the lore of Ancient Greece, and have transcended the politics of modern society to become the ultimate marker in sporting excellence. To win Olympic Gold gives you immortality of a rare and timeless specification – your story will be perpetuated forevermore, carried forward by the whispers of generations to come, who too aim to climb those sacred steps and join this club of champions. Emerging over the horizon, this time in the blue and red hue of palatial Paris, we are ready for the very fastest in rowing to be crowned.
Step forward, my friends – The Olympic Games have come.
The Stats
Country
Netherlands
Crew Names
Ymkje Clevering (B)
Veronique Meester (S)
Average Age
29 years
Olympic Record
Second in the W4- at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Games (Clevering and Meester)
2024 Competitive Record
World Rowing Cup 1: 1st (W2-)
World Rowing Cup 2: 1st (W2-)
World Rowing Cup 3: N/A
European Championships: 1st (W2-)
The Profile
Clevering and Meester have been racing together since their U23 days in 2016, when they won bronze in the BW4- at the world championships, and they’ve been crewmates ever since. In 2019 they were in the four that won silver at the world championships and won the European title in three consecutive years from 2019-2021. They continued in the four at the Tokyo Olympics, winning silver behind Australia. After Tokyo, they moved into the pair and doubled-up in the eight, winning European bronze in both boat classes and then going one better each time at the worlds. In 2023, they focused solely on the smaller boat, taking another European silver before winning their first world championship gold as a pairing. This season, they’ve raced at two of the three 2024 World Rowing Cups and are, so far, unbeaten. A win in Paris would be the Netherlands first women’s pair Olympic medal and eclipse their previous best result of tenth back in Sydney 2000.
About The Author
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