Athlete profile: Marianne Timmer

Posted: Tue February 3, 1998 at 5:00 PM ET

Athlete notes

After two years of being unable to qualify for the World Sprint or Single Distance Championships, Timmer regrouped last season to become the 1,000m world champion..."Last year was the greatest year I've ever had," says Timmer, who also finished sixth at the World Sprints. "In 1995, I was still young. Two years ago, I skated all-around. I trained too hard and traveled too much"...she credits a new-found ability to balance training and rest properly, inspired by her former personal coach Leen Pfammer, with whom she worked during the summer of 1996, as well as national team sprint coach, American Peter Mueller (MILL-er), who won the 1,000m gold at the 1976 Innsbruck Olympics and coached the now-retired Dan Jansen through much of his trials and tribulations, for her revitalization..."I really need my rest," Timmer now realizes. "I don't really know why but it's easy for me to get overtrained and overtired. It's important for me to find a balance between training and rest"...in addition, Timmer attributes some of her success to the new clap skates, which she started skating on last February..."I was a little bit lucky because I was the one of the first people in sprint to start (on clap skates)," she notes. "It definitely helped me to start early"...any advantage Timmer might have had, she used to the fullest at the Single Distance championships, adding a third in the 1,500m and a fourth in the 500m to her 1,000 win...she returned home to a hero's welcome immediately afterwards..."I came back to the airport and there were a lot of people, maybe 30 or 40, screaming my name," she recalls. "Then we all went back on a bus to Sappemeer and there was a big party with a lot of presents. That was really cool. I was kind of surprised, I did not think they could do that"...she also helped inaugurate the openings of several local stores by participating in ribbon-cutting ceremonies...her fame also extended beyond Holland itself..."I got hundreds of cards," Timmer exclaims, still in amazement. "People asked for my picture and autographs from Denmark and Germany and everywhere. It was very surprising"...Timmer expects to continue her upward trend this season, despite the remarkable times that sprinters have posted in the season's first few races..."I think I'm going to get better every year," says Timmer. "I'm technically very good. I do have to work on the corners because I think most of my speed comes out there. (And) I'm not really strong in the weight room but you skate on the ice, not in the weight room"...the Dutch press is not as convinced...Wibiren Boer, who covers speed skating for Holland's Volkskrant newspaper has concluded that, "There will be a drop-off this year. I really don't think Marianne can keep up with the American and the Canadian sprinters, they're just too strong"...still, Timmer is looking forward to at least hop on the plane to the Winter Olympics, something she expected to do four years ago..."First they (the Dutch selection committee) said if I get a certain time, I could go," she says. "I did that but then they said ‘No you can't go.' I never really understood it"...female figures have played a key role in laying the groundwork for Timmer's skating...her grandmother introduced her to skating when she was four years old...she then skated at school and also at a local club, in which her mother enrolled her...Marianne's mother is a hairdresser -- she runs her own salon at home but also voluntarily cuts elderly persons' hair three mornings each week -- and her father runs a sheep farm..."We had about 600 sheep last February," Timmer says...Marianne, who now lives only 300 meters from her parents, used to help her father take care of their lambs and even now, when she has the time, she assists her mother with the volunteer hair-cutting...her first World Cup season was 1992-93, the season after she finished third at the World Junior All-Around Championships...she skated in the 1993 World Sprint Championships as an 18 year-old...Timmer speaks English...