Simon van Beek |
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Personal Info |
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Gender: |
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Male |
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Country: |
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Switzerland |
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Birthdate: |
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May 18, 1986 |
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Place of Birth: |
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Uster, Switzerland |
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Place of Residence: |
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Tann, Switzerland |
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Height: |
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1,77 m |
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Weight: |
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74 kg |
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Supported: |
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2005-2008 |
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Personal Bests |
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500 m |
36,95 |
Calgary |
17-03-07 |
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1000 m |
1.13,04 |
Calgary |
17-03-07 |
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1500 m |
1.59,36 |
Calgary |
21-10-06 |
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3000 m |
4.46,54 |
Davos |
15-01-05 |
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5000 m |
8.32,89 |
Davos |
16-01-05 |
Athlete Questions |
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| 1 | What is your full and complete name, do you have some extra names we never hear of on TV? |
| Simon van Beek | |
| 2 | What is your nationality and from what region are you coming? |
| Dutch/Spanish, but born and raised in Switzerland | |
| 3 | What date is your birthday and in what year are you born? |
| May 18, 1986 | |
| 4 | Are you living in the same city where you were born? |
| No, I was born in Uster, ZH, Switzerland but live in Tann, ZH, Switzerland now. | |
| 5 | How tall are you? |
| 177 cm | |
| 6 | How heavy or light are you? |
| 74 kg | |
| 7 | What is the length of the blade of your skate and what is your shoe-size? |
| 16.5" / about 43 | |
| 8 | In case you look in the mirror, what colour do your eyes have? |
| blue | |
| 9 | How do good friends call you, do you have some nick-name too? |
| VenB | |
| 10 | Do you have a brother and/or a sister? And do they skate as well? |
| I have a little sister Isabelle, she skates as well | |
| 11 | Did you connect yourself already with someone? I mean are you married? |
| no, but i have a very nice girlfriend. Her name's Ladina | |
| 14 | Is there someone who is special to you, who you can call a friend? |
| there are a lot of people who i call friends. some more, some less special | |
| 15 | Do you believe in a God or 'that there is something else'? |
| there must be something. maybe just a big sugardonut. who knows. | |
| 16 | Now you are a speed skater you cannot use what you studied in school but what kind of schools or studies did you do anyway and for how long? |
| i went to highschool and finished that with a diploma. | |
| 17 | What kind of work did you do before you started skating and are you still working next to your skating career? |
| i went to school. | |
| 18 | Of course you like speed skating but what kind of activities do you like as well? What kind of hobbies do you have? |
| i like being with my friends or family, spending time with my girlfriend. i also like my xbox or watching a good movie. | |
| 19 | If you train and live your life as you do, you will burn a lot of energy so, you need to get new energy by eating. What do you need to eat for fully recover and what kind of food do you like the most? |
| that would be a big big pizza. | |
| 20 | And what is your favourite (non)-alcoholic drink? |
| besides water, pepsi | |
| 21 | It is well known that top sport athletes have to travel a lot and live months and months in hotel rooms all over the world. A favourite way of spending time is watching movies. Which movie is your best ever and please, tell us why? |
| american history x is one of them. but yeah, i have so much time to watch so many movies. i don't really know how to pick a favourite. | |
| 22 | Also waiting on airports or during long-distance training sessions, good music will help focus and motivate. Which music bands and/or artist do you like the most? |
| that really depends on my mood. sometimes i just want to chill and listen to easy music. when i feel gangsta' though, i listen to hip hop. HAHAHA | |
| 23 | On which love song would you propose your partner for marriage or what is the love song of you and your today's partner? |
| Heaven by Bryan Adams | |
| 24 | What is your best book ever and for what reason? |
| hmm... | |
| 25 | Which car would you buy if you ever can? And do you have a car right now? |
| i would buy a 1967 Shelby GT 500 | |
| 26 | You have seen a lot of countries but which country do you like the most and for what reason? |
| i like norway. | |
| 27 | Who is your 'all time favourite' speed skater and why? Did you ever meet? |
| shimizu. wow did you see that guys legs? HAHAHA | |
| 28 | Which (international) sportsman or woman, in another kind of sport, is your absolute hero? What do you admire about him/ her? |
| Lance Armstrong. There are to things i admire about him: 1. his strenght (emotional) and 2. his relation to ashley olsen. how the hell did he do that??? :-) | |
| 29 | Can you tell us what is your secret to make someone happy? |
| no. it wouldn't be a secret anymore. ;-) | |
| 30 | What can make you sad in life and how do you handle that? |
| unfairness. and if i see people suffer from something.. | |
| 31 | Can you share a situation with us in which you can be very shy? |
| if i gotta speak in front of a lot of people. | |
| 32 | What are you ashamed of? |
| i don't really know. | |
| 33 | If you can change your life, which person would you like to be for one day? |
| i'd like to be that sugardonut which watches us all. HAHAHA | |
| 34 | What do you appreciate in that person? |
| that's what i want to find out by being it. | |
| 35 | What is your biggest motivation in life? |
| that it's over before you know it. | |
| 36 | What is the best compliment you ever had and who gave it to you? |
| i always like, when my father tells me that i did good in something, because his definition of good seems pretty high :-) | |
| 37 | What is your best memory in life until now? |
| the first day i met Ladina. i remember everything from that day. probably because we talk about it a lot. | |
| 38 | Of what do you dream often and will you achieve it one day, or did you achieve it already? |
| i dream of having a nice family, a nice house and a nice car. and no. i didn't achieve that yet. | |
| 39 | Everybody has some worries but what is your biggest worry for the future? |
| that i have to make a big decision and i can't really tell what i want. | |
| 40 | How many minutes do you spend in front of the mirror per day? |
| about 30 seconds. | |
| 41 | How do you 'dress to impress' and when? |
| i dress nice when i go out, but that's not to impres, that is to get inside the club. | |
| 42 | If you ever will have children (or already have) what wisdom would you like to pass on to your children? |
| hey. don't ever let somebody tell you, you can't do something. not even me. all right? | |
| 43 | Imagine... you have to go to an island where nobody is living and you can just take one person with you: whom would you like to take with you? |
| my girlfriend | |
| 44 | Is there a motto in your life that will 'keep you going'? |
| dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today. | |
| 45 | When you have finished your speed skating career do you have already thoughts about what to do? |
| yes. i'm gonna work as pilot in the royal netherlands air force. i have one more test to pass. piece of cake... i hope HAHAHA | |
| 46 | Is there anything in your life where you are the most proud of? |
| that i finished highschool without failing one year. | |
| 47 | If there is one piece or part of yourself what you could change, what will it be? |
| my back. it hurts, so i need a stronger one. | |
| 48 | Booking a long trip with the plane to the other side of the world knowing it will take you almost 24 hrs, to whom would you like to sit next to in the plane and why? |
| i'd like to sit next to adam sandler. i think he could tell me a lot about live. in a pretty funny way of course. | |
| 49 | Why you started speed skating anyway and how old were you at that time? |
| i think i was about 15. some coach saw me at an inline race and asked me, if i want to try the same but on ice. | |
| 50 | Which sport(s) did you do before speed skating and what made you decide to choose for speed skating? |
| i did a lot. i started with cross country skiing, but that was too "long distance" for me. i also played ice hockey and basketball. and as i said, inline skating was a big part of my life so far. nothing is as fast as speed skting though | |
| 51 | What kind of other sports are your favourites? |
| speed skating, ice hockey, soccer. | |
| 52 | What was your first important speed skating event and how did you race? |
| that was in austria. i forgot the name..i think it was alpenländerpokal. i did okay for what i knew, but i still finished last i think :-) | |
| 53 | Is there any highlight in your career, which is the most special one for you? |
| i'm working on it! my highlight so far are my national records in speed skating and the medals i won at junior european championships with the dutch team in inline skating. | |
| 54 | Which personal skating result would you like to forget and because of what? |
| oh there are many. but i can't name them because i have allready forgotten them. i always try move on right away. | |
| 55 | How many hours do you train per week in winter? And how many in the summer? |
| 15 to 20 in the winter and about 15 in the summer. | |
| 56 | Which trainers did you have had until now and what did you learn from them until so far? |
| i had a lot of trainers. Marek Stanuch told me ho to skate (not from the beginning, but almost). then i trained with Angela Seulean told me to fight fight fight. and Todd McClements told me how to skate even faster with the right technique. | |
| 57 | What would you like to develop as a speed skater? How do you think you can improve it? |
| i need to strenghten my back. as soon as that is done i really need to work on my start, because with a fast start, the lap time will go down too. | |
| 58 | Skates are very important for top sport athletes like you, what brand of skates do you have and why? |
| i skate on VanHorne Customs. They are like house shoes. perfect fit. | |
| 59 | At which ice-rink do you feel 'home' and which one do you consider as 'the best'? |
| i feel home in calgary. i trained there for two seasons now and it's great. it makes it also the best facility. | |
| 60 | How many hours do you sleep per day,or per night? And can you sleep easily during important events? Do you meditate or something like that? |
| i have no problems with sleeping, as long as there's no car parked out front with a super-loud car alarm which goes off every time it's below 0°C... but yeah, i sleep fine. probably 7-8 hours a night | |
| 61 | Is there anything what you would you like to say to your fans? |
| do i have fans? :-) well..if i do: i'm glade you like me! and to the fans i know: thanks for being there for me. | |
| 62 | Is there anything what you would like to add or what you like to say anyway? |
| i would like to thank everybody that helped me getting as far as i am now. My mom and dad for the great support all those years, my coaches Nicole, Marek, Angela, Todd and all those who just gave me lap times, helped me with starts..... i also would like to thank my federation for letting me race worldcups ;-) and finally sport navigator and all the sponsors. Thank you for make this possible. | |
| 63 | Will you be an Olympic Champ one day and what will you do for it in order to achieving that? |
| i will train every day. every day you don't train, is one day more you have to wait to get to the top. |
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