Freestyle speedster Ranomi Kromowidjojo isn't shying away from her chance to become the Netherlands' newest Olympic swimming star. The 21-year-old from Winsum is the fastest woman in the world this year in the 50m and 100m free and will kick off her multiple medal bid on Saturday as part of the Dutch defence of their 4x100m freestyle relay crown.
"I want to achieve something big," Kromowidjojo said as she and relay team-mates Marleen Veldhuis and Inge Dekker met the press this week. "I do not feel under that much pressure, because the most pressure I put on myself." Although she's no newcomer to the Games, having helped the Dutch to relay gold in Beijing, she suffered a scary setback in her preparations for London in 2010 when she was hospitalised with viral meningitis while at a training camp in the Canary Islands. "It made me a stronger person," said Kromowidjojo.