Sailing 470 class

The brothers Sven and Kalle Coster of Team Coster are multiple Dutch champions, were runners up in the World Championship 2007 in Cascais, Portugal, and went on to win the Open Dutch Championships in Medemblik in October 2007. In 2008 the team won the Spring Cup in France, while their performance at the European Championship in Italy earned them a silver medal. Beijing 2008 marked their second Olympic Games after a successful first appearance in Athens 2004 where they finished 6th. In Qingdao they just missed an Olympic medal, ending fourth after an exciting week of sailing. For more on Sven and Kalle, please visit their homepage.

Lobke Berkhout and Marcelien de Koning ( webpages) won their third consecutive World Championship title in Cascais in 2007. Thanks to these extraordinary performances, Lobke and Marcelien were knighted in the Order of Oranje Nassau in October 2007. Earlier this year they finished fourth in de World Championships, seized the Princess Sofia Cup and and ranked among the top 5 in several pre-Olympic regattas in the months leading up to the Beijing Games. Their first Olympic appearance yielded them a Silver medal.