Anyone who thinks of Pieter van den Hoogenband, thinks of that mighty chest crawl with which he left everyone behind him at the Sydney Olympics in the year 2000....
Text: Gerben Bijpost
Pieter Cornelis Martijn van den Hoogenband's (1978) big international breakthrough was in 1999, when he won no fewer than six gold medals at the European Championships in Istanbul. He proved to be no one-hit wonder: a year later, he lived up to the high expectations, capturing two Olympic gold medals in Sydney in the 100 and 200-metre freestyle. Moreover, during that tournament he impressively broke the world record in the royal number, becoming the first man ever to swim under the magic limit of 48 seconds. 
That was not the end of the cake, because in 2004 the Maastricht native performed what only two other swimmers had ever done before: prolonging the gold medal in the royal number, the 100-metre freestyle at the Olympic Games in Athens.
Chef de Mission
After his impressive swimming career, Van den Hoogenband took a different approach to sport. From 2018, he was Chef de Mission of the Dutch team for the Olympic Games that took place in Tokyo in August 2021. And in November 2022, it was announced that this appointment has been extended anyway until the Paris Olympics in 2024. A position that fits him like a good pair of swimming trunks, as Van den Hoogenband is a trailblazer who continues to create new opportunities within the sports world and beyond as well as a mentor who influences through personal experience, empathy and purpose.
Brand ambassador
Since this week, Van den Hoogenband is also Friend of the Brand of Carl F. Bucherer. And the watch he wears in that capacity is an inside job: the Patravi TravelTec Orange. The striking and ultra-sturdy 46.6 mm stainless steel case frames a dial that leaves no doubt which country he is Chef de Mission from. Orange above, that's obvious. And the ditto-coloured strap, like a symbolic orange pennant, adds to that. But the watch also fits him perfectly in technical terms: no fewer than three time zones, chronometer-precision and a chronograph function; what more could a much-travelling sports official want.
The only thing the swimming champion has to take into account is the somewhat limited water resistance to 5 bar. Fine for showering of course, but just a little too little for cleaving through the water with mighty strokes...
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