Cees Koch

Cees Koch was originally appointed as a reserve for the 1948 Olympics, as the K2 marathon race was intended to be raced by J. Veldmaat and Cor Wijdekop in London. As Veldmaat suffered from a muscle injury, Koch and Harry Stroo, both from canoe club De Geuzen in Zaandam, were entered at the last moment, and they placed sixth. Four years later, Koch would enter with another club mate, Jan Klingers, reaching the final in the K2 1,000 m. Koch, who also competed in the 1954 Worlds, won multiple Dutch titles in the K2 (both 1,000 and 10,000 m), and in 1955 won the K1 titles in both 1,000 and 10,000 m.

In his daily life, Koch was a factory worker. During the Olympics, he worked in a Zaandam paint factory (Schoen; later Sigma), but had to take time off to attend the Games. In 1953, he married his wife Elizabeth, with whom he lived until her death in 2018. Koch himself reached the age of 98, remaing fit and active until the end.