Olympic champ Hoogenband withdraws from 100m freestyle
By Derek Parr
EINDHOVEN, Netherlands (Reuters) - Ailing Olympic gold medallist Pieter van den Hoogenband pulled out of the 100 metres freestyle heats at the European championships on Friday.
The Dutchman complained he was sick with stomach problems on Wednesday when he failed to make the semi-finals of the 200 freestyle, the event in which he beat Australian Ian Thorpe at the 2000 Olympics.
Van den Hoogenband had also been outpaced on the anchor leg of Tuesday's 4x100 metres freestyle relay in which the Dutch took bronze after the disqualification of first-home Russia for a faulty takeover.
Coach Jacco Verhaeren said the 200 had been the worst race he had seen Van den Hoogenband swim and that the swimmer would not compete again until he was completely better.
He could still swim in the 4x200 freestyle relay on Sunday, Verhaeren added.
It is a huge disappointment for Van den Hoogenband with the championships being contested in his home town in the National Swimming Centre built after the golden successes he and Inge de Bruijn achieved at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
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