Bruinsma first competed for the Netherlands at Glasgow in 2014.[3] Her first major international competition was the 2016 IPC Swimming European Championships in Funchal, where she competed in six events, and took a medal in five of them. Three of her Funchal medal's were gold: 400 m freestyle (S11), 100 m breaststroke (SB11) and the 200 m find. medley (SM11).
In the same year, Bruinsma made her Paralympic Games debut, winning five medals including two golds in the 200 metres individual medley and the 400 metres freestyle.[4]
The Netherlands did not send a team to the 2017 World Para Swimming Championships in Mexico city, but Bruinsma dominated at the 2018 World Para Swimming European Championships, winning four gold medals and breaking two world records, taking her tally of European Championships titles to seven.
During the 2020 Summer Paralympics, Bruinsma raised a protest after the women's 50 free final, claiming to have been hindered by the Chinese Li Guizhi.[5][6] The Paralympics organizing committee accepted the protest and decided to cancel the competition and hold a re-swim. This decision led to anger and protest in Chinese social media. The competition was repeated on 29 August 2021, with the same two Chinese swimmers winning the gold and silver again and Bruinsma finishing fourth.[7][8]
