“Sharon won an important Major: the 2016 Rio Olympics marathon swim. She is a three-time Olympian (several pool and two marathon swimming events). She is the only woman to win two Olympic medals in the 10 km marathon swim, a gold medal in Rio and a silver medal in Tokyo.
She also won three silver medals in theFINA World Championship: 2017 at 25 km and 2015 at 10 km and 5 km.
In the pool, she won medals at the FINA World Championships: a 2015 silver medal behind Katie Ledecky in the 400m freestyle; a 2014 gold medal in the 4×200 relay in world record time, a silver medal in the 400m freestyle and bronze in the 400m and 800m freestyle; and 2011 bronze at the age of 17 in the 200m backstroke. She also competed in the 100m and 200m backstroke at the 2012 London Olympics. Sharon was a seven-time European champion and a 12-time Dutch national record holder in the pool.
Steven Munatones has seen the newest IMSHOF Honor Swimmer in competition over the years, “Sharon is always in the mix. Leveraging her speed in the pool and the stamina that she has developed over many years of 10,000+ meter workout days, she has the speed and stamina and race savvy to win every time she enters a race. She is still relatively young – at 28 – so she may have 1 or more Olympics and many more World Championship efforts left in her career.
She is intense and dedicated for sure, but she also has a sense of humor and a smile that lights up a pool or room. This is a well-deserved honor for the Dutch swimmer who took great pride in her silver medal performance in Tokyo as well as her gold medal swim in Rio – where she literally swam away from the field on the last loop.”
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff.
