Maria Van den Brande

Maria Van Den Brande was one of the top female Belgian swimmers for most of the 1940s, and the winner of multiple national titles in the 100 metres freestyle, including in 1946. Selected for the 1948 Olympic team, Van Den Brande swam in the 4 × 100 metres freestyle relay alongside clubmates Maria Huybrechts and Maria Oeyen as well as Fernande Caroen from Oostende. Van Den Brande was also an active water polo player, and later played on the Belgian national volleyball team, serving as its captain in the 1950s. Later, she moved to Leuven, where she was a swimming teacher and lifeguard, retiring in 1986. Among her honours were the bronze national medal of sporting merit (1955), and a gold medal for sporting merit from the city of Leuven, awarded upon her retirement.

Her only sister, Gaby, younger by just under a decade, was also a noted aquatics athlete in the 1950s and 1960s, swimming for Olympic SC and Scaldis SC in Antwerpen, and a 27-time national champion.