The city of Nijmegen still feels like home to me. Not only because of my family and friends who live there, the memories I have from when I grew up there, or the familiarity of the streets and shops, but especially because Nijmegen has always been the place for me to make important life decisions, it’s the place where I learned wise lessons and made the difficult choices to eventually get where I am today. I made these decisions on long walks through Heumensoord, the Overasseltse Vennen, the botanical garden in Park Brakkesteyn, or during the ‘rondje brug’ that I often made with my parents and Buddy the dog around the new Spiegelwaal area. Nijmegen is a green city, with plenty of space to think and process life. And I really appreciate that.

Nijmegen is also a water city. Of course there is the Waal, the various lakes in the Ooipolder and the Berendonck, but there is also Zwembad West, Erica Terpstra Bad, het Goffertbad, and the Dukenburg Pool (and also the former Zwembad Oost). And that’s pretty convenient if you’re a swimmer. I grew up surrounded by four different swimming pools, all of which not more than 10 minutes away, and that certainly helped my rise in the world ranking charts when I was young. It seemed normal to me back then, but only now I realize how incredibly privileged I was.

Every time I come back to Nijmegen I feel at home. Even now, I sometimes still go and swim laps on my own in Zwembad West, or discuss my concerns with my mother in the Heumensoordse bos on the weekend. Nijmegen has shaped me into who I am today, and it will always be the place I return to with love.