Two-time Olympic silver medalist swimmer Arno Kamminga of The Netherlands chatted about his plans and goals for the future.
Walt Disney once said: “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” Dutch swimmer Arno Kamminga, 26, is living proof of this wise quotation by the cartoon legend.
2022 World Aquatic Championships in Budapest
Kamminga is looking forward to the 2022 FINA World Aquatic Championships, which will take place in Budapest, Hungary. “I am very excited about the World Championships in Budapest,” he said.
“The last World Championships were in South Korea in Gwangju three years ago, and my highest placing there was 10th in the 200 meter breaststroke. I definitely wanted to improve on that and it’s going to be cool to be swimming in the finals there. To go back there will be really epic,” he elaborated.
“I am ready to show people what I’ve trained for over the past year,” he said. “I know I am stronger, fitter, and better than I was last year. Also, I love racing in Budapest, it has one of the best pools in the world. In every competition there, I have always swum fast so I am really looking forward to Budapest.”
“If I swim my best race in the final, I will definitely medal, which is still a crazy thing for me to say,” he added.
On the title of the current chapter of his life, Kamminga revealed, “Enjoying my life.” “I can enjoy the grind and even the hard work. The same holds true with the pain and the hard practices. It has been such a journey and it’s so cool,” he said.
Jesse Puts
Kamminga complimented fellow Dutch swimmer Jesse Puts. “Jesse has been doing great lately, it’s insane the number of 22-lows that he has been doing in practice. Jesse really enjoyed the ISL season in Naples and Eindhoven,” he said.
Paris 2024 Olympic Games
He revealed that his plans for the future are to complete at the Paris 2024 Olympics, which are only two years away, and then, hopefully at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. “After that, I would have to sit down and see how my body feels. If my body says ‘yes’ and I am still having fun, I will keep on swimming. I am just enjoying it way too much and my passion is there,” he said.
“I love traveling around, seeing my friends, and meeting a lot of people. I am going to stay focused on my swimming and I will swim fast. These days, I like inspiring the new generation and that is pretty cool,” he added.
Arena partnership
Kamminga opened up about his partnership with Arena. “It has been going really well. I love them,” he said. “II work with some amazing people there that also share the same passion as me. Their suits are good and their clothing is nice. I have been using Arena now for almost 10 years. I love the compression on the legs and the new goggles are the best goggles ever with the swipe and anti-fog treatment. Everything I use in the pool is Arena.”
Short Course World Championships
This past December, Kamminga won the gold medal for The Netherlands (along with Kira Toussaint, Ranomi Kromowidjojo, and Thom de Boer) in the mixed 4 × 50 meter medley relay final at the Short Course Worlds in Abu Dhabi with a time of 1:36.20, a new Championship Record.
“That was really cool, especially to be able to do that with the relay,” he said. “While we didn’t break the world record, it was still so cool. We really wanted to break it though. We had such an incredible team and we were so fast, and it was so much fun.”
Motivations
Regarding his daily motivations, he said, “I try to be better each day than I was the previous day. Also, the satisfaction that you get from trying really hard and doing long hours of work. I try to also work on all the little details. I enjoy working with the great people around me from teammates to coaches to all the staff on the pool deck and sharing the same energy and the same passion. That reallly pushes me to try my best every single day.”
“I never look at a glass-half-full, I look at it completely full each time,” he admitted. “I am living the best life there is. It’s so cool. I travel the entire world doing what I love the best. What else can I ask for?”
Tokyo Olympic Games
At the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, Kamminga won two silver medals for The Netherlands in the men’s 100 meter and 200 meter breaststroke races. “That was really cool,” he admitted. “It is still a bit unbelievable though. So much has happened since but it was amazing. I was improving every year going into Tokyo. I felt that the wins at Tokyo were just the icing on the cake.”
Favorite stroke in swimming
As one would expect, Kamminga listed the “breaststroke” as his personal favorite stroke in the sport. “My least favorite is backstroke, I only do it as a recovery stroke,” he said.
Advice for hopefuls
For young and aspiring swimmers, Kamming said, “I always say: ‘first train hard, and then, train smart.’ I see a lot of people training hard but they are not training smart. Be aware of your goals and what you need to do, and make up a plan.”
“Try to improve every single day even if it is just small steps. In the end, you will grow bigger and bigger and that is much better than trying to achieve big steps in a short time period. The main goal is trying to improve every single time,” he added.
ISL with the Aqua Centurions
On being a part of the International Swimming League (ISL) with the Aqua Centurions swimming team, he said, “It was cool. It was also a bit hard for me coming off the Olympics.”
“After the Olympics, I have two weeks off and it was really hard to get back into the groove, especially racing in Naples when you are not totally fit. It wasn’t my finest moment. I enjoyed the hard work and pushing myself each day,” he explained.
“Ever since January, I have been doing really good in practice and also in meets,” he added.
He also praised sports photographer Mine Kasapoglu for her impressive work behind the camera. “Mine is great, she takes amazing pictures. She does incredible work with the lighting,” he exclaimed.
Fans
For his fans, family, and supporters, Kamminga remarked, “I still have a photo at my home from the first time I went to Budapest, where 25 to 30 people went to watch me there during my first World Championships. Everybody on the team was jealous that I had so many friends and family members there. That meant a lot to me, it was so cool to have them there and they had the greatest time.”
“Winning medals is always cool but sharing them and celebrating them with your friends and family is even better. They are the most important part of winning those medals,” he added.
Rapid Fire Questions
Kamminga also took some time to answer a few “Rapid Fire” questions.
Waffles or pancakes? Pancakes
Flying or driving? Flying
City living or country living? City living, at this point in my life
Summer or winter? Summer
Library or museum? Museum
Bath or shower? Shower
Pepsi or Coke? Coke, that’s an easy one
Texting or calling? Texting, although calling is growing on me
Half-full or half-empty? Completely full
Curly fries or normal fries? Normal fries with a couple of accidental curly fries
Skydiving or scuba diving? Skydiving
Indoor pool or outdoor pool? Outdoor pool
Tea or coffee? Coffee
Rain or snow? Neither
Singing or dancing? Dancing, for sure
Burgers or tacos? Burgers
Long course or short course? Long course
Money or fame? Money
To learn more about Olympic swimmer Arno Kamminga, follow him on Instagram.
