A recognition of exceptional services rendered to the association, Aquamania has appointed five people as honorary members of the association.
Jeroen van Bergen
The man who first got in the pool for Aquamania is Jeroen van Bergen: our first Praeses. In the early 1990s, he came up with the idea of setting up a student association that would focus entirely on practicing water polo. Together with his housemate, he went looking for like-minded people and found a group of about twenty people who would meet at swimming pool De Vliet at 7 a.m. in the summer to train.
After this cautious start in 1991, the First Leiden Student Water Polo Association was founded under his leadership on the 17th of June 1992.
Ingmar ‘Aquatollah’ Kooman
Like every large organization, Aquamania also has a Great Leader, nicknamed ‘Aquatollah’. This man, with some help, kept our great association alive for three years and brought it to previously unknown heights with his management plans such as ‘More’ and ‘Even more and better’. Before, during and after his three years as Abactis and twice as Praeses, Ingmar has always been one of the driving forces within the association. There is almost no committee in which he has not sat. He set up participation in the NSZKs and can still be found there. He almost always participates in Aquacties, to ultimately have ‘one more cassis’ before going home. If people had to be encouraged to participate in activities, committees or competitions, Ingmar had already started recruiting before others thought of it. He still gives training courses, and does so with gusto. This GA-tiger is still an advisory body for the board and committees, even though, or perhaps precisely because, he has been around for more than 10 years. As Yvette once said when he was appointed: ‘Sometimes Ingmar was just Aquamania’.
Due to his extraordinary dedication to the well-being of the association, with possible neglect of everything that was not related to this, Ingmar ‘Aquatollah’ Kooman has earned the honorary membership of E.L.S.Z.W.V. Aquamania.
Nominators
- Yvette Roozen
- Anke Hoekstra
- Floor Bakels
- Elske van den Berg
- Auke Bergsma
- (Ivo Beetz)
Robert Pijpers
Robert became a member of Aquamania in 2003 and soon took over part of Wietse’s trainings. He provided these trainings for the association for six years. In addition, he fulfilled the role of water polo commissioner for two years on the boards of ’04-’05 and ’05-’06, with the icing on the cake being the founding of the subsidiary association Aqualliance on August 25, 2005. The founding that is still celebrated annually with a diet coke together with Wietse, if possible in Oegstgeest, at the notary nearby.
This versatile Aquamaniac has made an incredibly important contribution to the growth and prosperity of Aquamania’s water polo branch and subsidiary association Aqualliance as a member, trainer, board member and father of Aqualliance. That is why he has earned the right to be appointed honorary member of E.L.S.Z.W.V. Aquamania and Aqualliance.
Nominators
De ‘oude garde’
- Mireille Esseveld
- Floor van Mensvoort
- Klaas-Jan Kremer
- Daan Kremer
- Wietse Veenstra
Wietse Veenstra
The fact that Wietse is not mentioned in any almanac and has never held a board position, may make it a bit strange that he has become an honorary member. However, Wietse has been the driving, inexhaustible & silent force of Aquamania in the background since 2001. He has taken many initiatives in the past, which now determine the framework of Aquamania. For example, he founded two associations: the Aquafossielen, the reunion association of Aquamania, and Aqualliance, the daughter association of Aquamania that was used to play in the NCS water polo competition. In addition, he has been overseeing treasurers in the KasCo for more than 10 years, he has been in the technical committee for several years and, together with Robert, has provided many training sessions, he is still very much present at GAs and he is still committed to Aquamania at tournaments and water polo. He is someone the association can still count on, even after he has been a former member of Aquafossiel for years.
Nominators
- Anneleen Lange
- Martijn van der Lienden
- Renée Noest
- Mireille Esseveld
- Sylvia van der Kall
With support from: Robert Pijpers en Yvette Roozen
Eva Zekveld
Eva became a member of Aquamania on 23 August 2018 and immediately made an impression as a member of Aquactie that same year. A year later, she, Aquactie, Lonneke and Jelle laid the foundation for a challenging board year in which the bookkeeping of previous years still had to be completed – and even Mark Rutte treated us to face masks in the swimming pool. Nevertheless, the Aquaddiction board successfully completed the year and the financial reports were approved by the GA.
Thanks to her experience as a Questor, Eva then fulfilled an indispensable role in KasCo for many years, where she solved complex financial issues, and guided both sponsors and bookkeeping processes to success. She also helped many Questors in need to tame the beast called Conscribo. As a mentor, she shared her knowledge and continued to support the association financially, long after her board year. With inexhaustible patience, dizzying Excel formulas and boundless dedication, Eva has gone far beyond what can be expected of a KasCo member. Eva is incredibly friendly, patient and approachable. Thanks to her dedication, Aquamania stayed afloat in times of financial storms. That is why we want to thank her with the highest honor within our association.
Nominators
- Janneke Zweers
With support from: Mare, Quirine, Sanne, Gijs, Delilah, Noa and Marlijn