Bas Verwijlen (born 1 October 1983) is a Dutch right-handed épée fencer and four-time Olympian.Biografie: Bas Verwijlen, basverwijlen.com, ret: 7 August 2008
He started fencing when he was five years old at fencing club Zaal Verwijlen in Oss, owned by his father Roel Verwijlen, who is also the Dutch national coach. Until he was twelve years old, he fenced in two different weapons, but he has since chosen to focus on the épée. He became part of the Dutch national team and took part in the Universiade (17th in Beijing, 2001), Youth Olympics, Dutch national championships, but also European and World Championships. As a junior, he won eleven national titles, he became third at the World Championships under-16 in the United States and represented the Netherlands at every European and World Championship since 1998. He won two World Cups for Juniors, a performance never achieved by another fencer.
It was time for his senior career and also managed to achieve World class performances there. At the 2005 World Championships in Leipzig he won the bronze medal. At the European Championships 2005 in Zalaegerszeg he and his Dutch teammates came sixth in the nations tournament. He reached the final and became second at the 2006 European Championships in İzmir. After the Grand Prix meeting in Stockholm in 2008 he was secure of qualification for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In the preparations for this tournament he won the World Cup meeting in Cali, Colombia in June and he also won the Dutch national title. At the 2008 Summer Olympics he reached the last eight, losing to the eventual gold medalist, Matteo Tagliariol.
At the 2011 European Championships, he finished in 2nd place, a result he repeated at the 2011 World Championships. He qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics, finishing in 13th place, despite a knee injury.
Medal Record
World Championship YearLocationEventPosition2005 Leipzig, GermanyIndividual Men's Épée3rd2011 Catania, ItalyIndividual Men's Épée2nd
European Championship YearLocationEventPosition2011 Sheffield, United KingdomIndividual Men's Épée2nd
Grand Prix DateLocationEventPosition28 March 2003 Bogotá, ColombiaIndividual Men's Épée3rd5 November 2007 Paris, FranceIndividual Men's Épée3rd25 January 2008 Kuwait City, KuwaitIndividual Men's Épée3rd2 October 2012 Doha, QatarIndividual Men's Épée3rd12 April 2015 Doha, QatarIndividual Men's Épée3rd
World Cup DateLocationEventPosition21 May 2005 Tallinn, EstoniaIndividual Men's Épée3rd7 August 2005 Vancouver, CanadaIndividual Men's Épée2nd16 July 2005 Tehran, IranIndividual Men's Épée1st15 July 2006 Tehran, IranIndividual Men's Épée3rd1 December 2007 Kish Island, IranIndividual Men's Épée2nd2 February 2007 Legnano, ItalyIndividual Men's Épée3rd14 June 2008 Cali, ColombiaIndividual Men's Épée1st1 October 2009 Kish Island, IranIndividual Men's Épée1st14 February 2009 Tallinn, EstoniaIndividual Men's Épée3rd26 March 2010 Heidenheim, GermanyIndividual Men's Épée2nd26 June 2010 Buenos Aires, ArgentinaIndividual Men's Épée2nd3 April 2011 Tallinn, EstoniaIndividual Men's Épée3rd21 February 2014 Tallinn, EstoniaIndividual Men's Épée2nd23 October 2015 Bern, SwitzerlandIndividual Men's Épée1st5 November 2018 Paris, FranceIndividual Men's Épée3rd23 November 2018 Bern, SwitzerlandIndividual Men's Épée2nd2 July 2020 Vancouver, CanadaIndividual Men's Épée1st
References
External links