Elma de Vries


Elma de Vries is a Dutch marathon speed skater and inline speed skater. She is the older sister of marathon speed skater Bob de Vries.

Biography

De Vries was three years old when she started riding on skates on a small creek near her home, but first became part of a club in artistic gymnastics and athletics before becoming a member at a speed skating club in Noordenveld in 1991. In the Summer of 1992 she started inline speed skating in Leek. In 1996 she was asked to represent the national youth squad of her regional team and eventually represented the Netherlands at five Junior European Championships. In the 2000-01 season she was asked to join Jong Oranje which is the Dutch national youth squad, covered by the national speed skating association KNSB. In two years time as a member of Jong Oranje she appeared on two Junior World Championships. The next two years in the KNSB team she was part of the talent raising squad for starting seniors, while in inline skating she represented the Netherlands in the 2002, 2004 and 2005 European Championships, as well as the 2004 and 2005 World Championships, riding for the Maple Team. In 2004, she trained with the Austrian national speed skating team for a while and in December 2004 she appeared in her first speed skating marathon. Currently she is part of the professional marathon speed skating team DSB and still participates in long track speed skating every now and then.

Honours

Speed skating