Mietje Baron

Who was Mietje Baron?

Mietje "Marie" Baron was a Dutch swimmer and diver who competed at the 1924 and 1928 Olympics. In 1924 she was sixth in the 4×100 m freestyle relay. She was disqualified in the first round of the 200 m breaststroke event, as the judges believed she touched the wall with one hand instead of two hands at one of the turns. Meanwhile her time of 3:22.6 was several seconds ahead of the gold medalist. Four years later she swam 3:15.2, but this was only enough for a silver medal, as her main rival Hilde Schrader clocked 3:12.6. At the 1928 Games Baron also competed in the 10 m platform diving event and finished fourth.

Between 1926 and 1926 Baron set four breaststroke world records, two in the 200 m and two in the obsolete 400 m event. In October 1929 she announced her engagement and retired from swimming. Next year she married Pieter Lourens de Puij.