Loes Brandt

Loes Brandt (born 1900s) was a Dutch competitive swimmer and water polo player. She was a swimmer in the earliest era of women's competitive swimming during the early 20th-century. She was a member of swimming club "Hollandsche Dames Zwemclub" (HDZ) in Amsterdam and represented the Netherlands and her club internationally. She became with her club many times national water polo champion. At the 1922 Women's Olympiad she won the gold medal with water polo and the silver medal with the Dutch relay team. In swimming she was specialized in the breaststroke.

Career
Sports career
Brandt played water polo in the early 20th-century with Hollandsche Dames Zwemclub. The London Ladies Waterpolo Club came to the Netherlands for swimming and water polo competitions in 1914. This was the first time a British water polo team played in the Netherlands. Brandt was selected as an attacker in the water polo match against the British team. HDZ lost the match with 3-2. One of the newspaper reports states that Brandt scored the second Dutch goal.

As of 1922 she was already ten times Dutch national champion. After 1922, she  became again national champion in 1923, 1926, 1927, 1933 and 1934. She was named the best Dutch center forward. She had an “unstoppable” shot at goal.

Brandt was selected to compete at the 1922 Women's Olympiad, the earliest women's international swimming championships in Monte Carlo. She was selected for the 200 m breatstroke event, the 4 x 50 m relay medley and to play with the Dutch team the Water polo at the 1922 Women's Olympiad. 

Ahead of the Olympiad, preparation matches in the Netherlands were organized. 

At the Olympiad she won the silver medal with the Dutch relay team in the 4 x 50 m relay medley event, where she swam the 50 m breaststroke. In the 200 m breaststroke event she was eliminated in the heats.

Brandt was the captain of the earliest Netherlands women's national water polo team at the Olympiad. She became with the team champion after winning the decisive match against the British team. They won with 6–0. Brandt scored one of the goals.

Ahead of the 1926 international swimming and water polo meeting against Germany, Brandt was selected to join the central trainings. In 1927 she went with her club HDZ to London for international water polo matches.

Commissions
Brandt was also active in multiple swimming commissions. In 1923 she became a member of the training commission of the Hollandsche Dames Zwemclub. She was re-elected in 1925. In March 1926 Brandt was chosen by the Dutch national swimming federation to become a member of the Dutch commission for the 1928 Summer Olympics where she was responsible for swimming.

References

Other websites
1934 image with Brandt

Category:1900s births
Category:Year of birth missing
Category:Year of death missing
Category:Dutch swimmers
Category:Dutch water polo players
Category:Sportswomen