Milou van Wijk
Dutch swimmer (born 2004)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Milou van Wijk (born 12 November 2004) is a Dutch swimmer.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | Dutch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 12 November 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Freestyle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Career
van Wijk made her World Aquatics Championships debut in 2023. Her best finish was sixth place in the 4×100 metre freestyle relay.[1] She again competed at the World Championships in 2024 and won a gold medal in the 4×100 metre freestyle relay with a time of 3:36.61. She was replaced by Marrit Steenbergen during the event final.[2]
In June 2025, she competed at the 2025 European U-23 Swimming Championships and won gold medals in the 50 metre and 100 metre freestyle events.[3] The next month she competed at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships and won a bronze medal in the 4×100 metre freestyle relay with a time of 3:33.89.[4] She also advanced to the final of the 50 metre freestyle and finished in fifth place with a time of 24.47 seconds.[5][6]
In August 2026, she competed at the 2026 European Aquatics Championships and won a gold medal in the 4×100 metre freestyle relay with a European Championships record time of 3:31.89.[7] She also won a silver medal in the 100 metre freestyle with a time of 52.71 seconds.[8]
Personal life
van Wijk was diagnosed with Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome, a rare growth syndrome as a baby. She was then diagnosed with cancer at two years old.[9] She had a leg-length discrepancy of two and a half centimeters before she underwent surgery on her right knee. During the surgery they drilled into her growth plates so that only her left leg would continue to grow and eventually match the length of her right leg. She now only has a leg-length difference of six millimeters. Because she grew rapidly and asymmetrically, she also developed scoliosis.[10]