Femke Dekker

Who is Femke Dekker?

Femke Dekker is a Dutch rower from the Netherlands.

Dekker started rowing in 1990 and made her international debut in the double sculls at the 1995 Junior World Championships in Poznan. Together with Christel Rijnten she won the bronze medal. The following year Dekker became World Junior Champion in the fours with Rijnten, Karin Klinge and Maartje Breeman in Glasgow. In 1997 she finished fifth in the single scull race at the Junior World Championships in Hazewinkel. She kept on rowing the single scull in 1998 with winning a bronze medal in the Nations Cup. In 1999 in the double sculls with Annemieke Klaren she was unsuccessful.

Dekker and Marloes Bolman qualified for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and became 10th in the coxless pairs. In 2001 she formed a fours boat with Anneke Venema, Hurnet Dekkers and Carin ter Beek that finished fourth and fifth at the Rowing World Cup meetings in Sevilla and Munich. At the World Championships in Luzern with Christine Vink as a replacement of Hurnet Dekkers they won the bronze medal in the coxless fours. 2002 was a disappointing year for Dekker as she only reached two fourth places in World Cup meetings with Marlies Smulders, Nienke Hommes and Melina Bus in the fours. At the World Championships they could only reach to an eighth position. The double sculls season in 2003 with Froukje Wegman was even more disappointing as not one single A-final was reached. She decided to row on her own in 2004 and to aim to qualify for the 2004 Summer Olympics. In the single scull she became fifth and third in World Cup meetings, which secured her spot in Athens, but at the Olympics itself she only was able to finish in tenth position.