Pieter Cornelis Ruud Martijn van den Hoogenband

Born in Maastricht, Limburg, the son of Cees-Rein van den Hoogenband and Astrid Verver, a former Dutch 800 m freestyle silver medalist at the European Junior Championships, he grew up in Geldrop, where he swam for PSV Eindhoven. His father is a team doctor with the professional football team of the same club. In 1993, Van den Hoogenband achieved his first successes, performing well on the European Youth Olympic Days. He and his wife, former medley swimmer Minouche Smit, had their first child, a daughter named Daphne, on 23 June 2007. Their second child, a son, Sander was born on 13 September 2009. Van den Hoogenband is a fan of the American band Pearl Jam and he listened to their music before a race to psyche himself up.