Open water swimmer Dèlenn van Oostrom (left) and judoka Hilde Jager. Photo: Guy Ackermans
On Tuesday 25 April, Marianne Remmers handed the two their scholarships in De Bongerd. Remmers is the mother of Niels Smith, a talented young footballer who committed suicide in 2009 at the age of 15. In 2011, she established a fund in his name for talented sportspeople studying at Wageningen University & Research who just miss out on support from the Dutch sports federation NOC*NSF.
Hilde Jager plays judo at the national training centre at Papendal. In 2016, she won two European Cup medals in the juniors and a European Cup silver medal in the seniors. Next season, she aims to qualify for the junior European and World Championships. Hilde wants to use her sports scholarship to help pay for the costs of Papendal.
Dèlenn van Oostrom came second in the Dutch Marathon Championship over 22 km in open water in 2016, third in the Open National Championship over 10 km and first in the World Cup Openman selection competition over 9.3 km. She hopes to make the team for the European Championship. Dèlenn wants to use the scholarship to fund her participation in competitions abroad.
Dèlenn and Hilde bring the total number of Wageningen sportspeople who have enjoyed the support of the Niels Smith Fund since 2011 to twelve.