 Van der Velden at the 2016 Olympics | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 26 October 1994 (age 31) Madrid, Spain |
| Height | 168 cm (5 ft 6 in) [1] |
| Weight | 62 kg (137 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sailing career | |
| Club | Aruba Beach Cats [2] |
| Coach | Pim Nieuwenhuis |
Nicole van der Velden (born 26 October 1994 in Madrid) is a Spanish-Aruban sailor. She was born Aruban, but received the Spanish nationality by the Spanish government in 2019. [3] She competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the Nacra 17 race with Thijs Visser; they won two races and placed 16th in the final standings. [4] She was the flag bearer for Aruba in the Parade of Nations. [5] She campaigned a 49er FX towards the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games [6] and is presently campaigning an IQ Foil windsurfer towards the 2024 Olympic Games.
Originally from Noord, Aruba, Van Der Velden was born in Madrid to a Dutch father and a Venezuelan mother. She took up sailing in 2008 following her father, Martin, who worked as a technical officer with the Aruba Sailing Association. [2] She speaks four languages fluently: Papiamento, Dutch, Spanish and English. [7] [8]
