{"id":1646,"date":"2016-11-18T13:28:58","date_gmt":"2016-11-18T12:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2016\/11\/18\/eur-studente-levert-unieke-prestatie-op-nk-boksen\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:07","slug":"eur-studente-levert-unieke-prestatie-op-nk-boksen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2016\/11\/18\/eur-studente-levert-unieke-prestatie-op-nk-boksen\/","title":{"rendered":"Exceptional performance by EUR student at Dutch boxing championship"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMarleen Swaans<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

On Sunday, boxer and EUR master student Myrea van den IJssel delivered an unprecedented performance by winning her second championship in the Dutch national tournament. During her final bout at Topsportcentrum Rotterdam, she left no doubt as to who deserved the title. Van den IJssel couldn\u2019t be happier.<\/p>\n

\u201cI only heard after the match that I was the first person ever to win the title twice in a row,\u201d she says in the cosy canteen of her club RBV Crooswijk. \u201cThat makes me extra proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

Success<\/h3>

Still, success didn\u2019t come easy to the Health Care Management student. In April, she sustained a serious injury. And in the same period, she had to round off her Medicine bachelor programme \u2013 which proved more or less impossible to combine with her athletic activities. \u201cThis was my first fight in almost a year. I needed to train twice as hard as normal to get back to my former level.\u201d<\/p>\n

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At first glance, you wouldn\u2019t take Van den IJssel for your typical boxer. But looks can be deceiving. \u201cMy strongest point is my offensive style: it tends to overwhelm my opponents.\u201d And Van den IJssel doesn\u2019t have many other options, because she is relatively small for her weight class (up to 69 kg). \u201cMy opponents have a far longer reach than I have. Which means I have to get up close to force an opening.\u201d And this tactic clearly paid off in her final match against the far taller Heleen Van de Water. The jury was unanimous: 3-0 for Van den IJssel.<\/p>\n

Diploma<\/h3>

The freshly-proclaimed champion only started boxing at age 17. Her father told her she had to get her vwo (pre-university education) diploma first. In the meantime, Van den IJssel was forced to find some other outlet. \u201cI played tennis, but that didn\u2019t suit me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the 23-year-old had felt an affinity with boxing from a very young age. \u201cWhen Myrea was three or four years old, she already came along when I went training,\u201d says her extremely proud father John van den IJssel. Van den IJssel senior, who also used to fight at a very high level, presently works as Myrea\u2019s trainer. \u201cShe wanted to put on boxing gloves straight away \u2013 she loved it. That\u2019s how my daughter ended up in this sport.\u201d Some 20 years later, the two still train together at a small but friendly boxing club in the heart of Crooswijk. As the father of not one but two boxing children, the 59-year-old has to fend off quite a few punches from his offspring.<\/p>\n

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Van den IJssel deelt een stoot uit aan haar trainer. <\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAysha Gasanova<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Big kiss<\/h3>

Some people say that fathers shouldn\u2019t coach their children. Myrea disagrees. \u201cMy father knows exactly how best to approach me. I often get a bit worked up; so I don\u2019t want a coach who is all nervous as well. At moments like that, my father tends to be really relaxed \u2013 and that calms me down too.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Van den IJssel senior: \u201cI see it straight away if there\u2019s something going on with my daughter. For example, on Sunday, she had to go the toilet right before the final. Normally, she doesn\u2019t do that. She was extremely tense,\u201d he recalls with a concerned look on his face. \u201cIn moments like that, I keep calm and try to mentally prepare Myrea for the fight. At a certain point, she starts believing in herself again, and the nerves subside. At the end of the match, when she\u2019s out of the ring again, I give her a big kiss \u2013 as her father this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tokyo<\/h3>

Van den IJssel junior wants to follow in the footsteps of her hero Nouchka Fontijn \u2013 who won silver in Rio this summer \u2013 and compete in the Olympics. \u201cI\u2019m aiming for Tokyo 2020. It isn\u2019t out of the question.\u201d Still, a lot of things need to happen before Myrea can qualify for the Olympic Games. \u201cI\u2019m going to start with a number of smaller international tournaments. If I put in a good performance, they\u2019ll enter me in the European or World Championship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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