Pieter Timmers is a Belgian competitive swimmer who specializes in sprint freestyle events. He won the silver medal in the 100 meter freestyle at the 2016 Olympics. Timmers currently holds nine Belgian records, and seven national titles in long and short course freestyle. Timmers is a resident athlete for Brabo Antwerp, and trains under his personal coach Ronald Gaastra. He stands, and weighs.
Career
Timmers qualified for three swimming events at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, by clearing a FINA B-standard entry time of 48.92 from the Belgian Championships in Antwerp, just a 0.10-second deficit from an A-cut and a Belgian record held by Yoris Grandjean. He also teamed up with Dieter Dekoninck, Emmanuel Vanluchene, and Jasper Aerents in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay. Swimming the anchor leg, Timmers recorded a fastest split of 48.18, but the Belgian team rounded out the finale to last place in 3:14.40. On the fourth day of the Games, Timmers competed in two different events with 90 minutes in between. In the 100 m freestyle, he topped the seventh heat by beating seven other swimmers, including two-time Olympic championYannick Agnel of France. Swimming in lane eight and standing at two metres tall, he blasted a new Belgian record of 48.54 to pick up a matching sixth seed with Cayman Islands' Brett Fraser from the preliminary heats. Followed by the evening session, Timmers fell short in his bid for the final, as he matched a twelfth-place finish with Australia's James Roberts in his semifinal run, outside a record time of 48.57. Timmers placed twelfth as a member of the Belgian team in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. Teaming with Dekoninck, Louis Croenen, and Glenn Surgeloose, Timmers anchored the race with a split of 1:48.28 to set a Belgian record of 7:14.44 in the heats. At the 2012 European Short Course Swimming Championships in Chartres, France, Timmers earned his first two career medals in an international level. In the 200 m freestyle, he touched second behind Agnel with a new short-course Belgian record of 1:43.08. Timmers also solidified his Belgian team with a bronze in the 4×50 m freestyle relay, posting their time of 1:25.60. At the 2016 Olympics Timmers won the silver medal in the men's 100 freestyle. He finished the race with a time of 47.80, breaking his own Belgian Record and awarded with a silver medal. He also swam the 4 x 100 relay team to a 6th place in a new Belgian Record, and the team also finished 8th in the 4x200 freestyle relay.
