‘Future champions start here’, that is the Slamstox motto that you have probably heard before. It has often been shown that a life as a student-athlete is a good preparation for a professional sports career, but when we heard this news we immediately got goosebumps.
Taking part in the Olympic Games, a dream for every athlete. And this summer it will happen for 22-year-old swimmer Nyls Korstanje! He will swim his very first Olympic Games and we are proud of that. Nyls is the first one to call himself an Olympic athlete in addition to a Slamstox student-athlete. How cool is that ?!
In the fall of 2018, Nyls left for the USA to join the Wolfpack at NC State. He is now in his junior year and has been named ‘All American’ no less than 11 times and has become a 7 time ACC Champion: in 3 different elements in 2019 and in 4 different elements in 2020. In 2019, Nyls was also named ACC Men’s Freshman of the Year and in 2020, he became CSCAA Scholar All-American. Hard work, both in the pool and in the classroom, but all the hard work certainly pays off.
Nyls qualified for the Olympics at the European Championships in Budapest last week. He competed in the 100 meter butterfly and swam a time of 51.83 seconds, which is below the limit of 51.92. Last month at the qualifying matches in Eindhoven, Nyls remained above the limit with a time of 51.93: which is one hundredth of a second. Most readers probably get nervous when they hear these minor differences, but Nyls has managed to prove himself in Budapest.
Nyls told the following to RTL news:
“I had to fight for it. The start, the first 50 meters, is the easy part for me. But the end of the race is what I trained really hard for. I thought about everyone who stands behind me and what I’ve done to achieve this. I am ‘over the moon’ that I am now officially qualifying for the Olympics. The discharge is great. The pressure is off now, I did what I wanted to do. Now I can compete against the other guys instead of myself. ”
Nyls Korstanje
In only two months the Olympic Games will start in Tokyo. It seems logical to us that every sports enthusiast reading this article is about to follow different sports and athletes in the Olympics. But let’s already agree that we, as the Slamstox community, are going to stand behind Nyls as well!
Nyls, you were already an example for many and that will only become more with these upcoming performances. We are very proud of you and we are going to follow your adventure in Tokyo closely.
Future champions start here!
Would you like to read more about Nyls? Earlier, Nyls was already on our blog page with this cool interview. His university, NC State, has also been in the university spotlight!
Do you also want to become a student-athlete in the USA? Reach out to us or click on the button below. Then we will discuss your options together soon!
