Before reading my article, I will explain how you can use this site. So far it is in 2 languages: English and Dutch. Top left under the Olympic Rings you can choose the language. Below that you can select a Category. Each category will have a number of articles which you can read by clicking on them.
WHAT and WHO is Citius-Altius-Fortius.
www.citius-altius-fortius.info comes from Latin and means: faster-higher-stronger.
This website is basically for myself and maybe some others I want to share it with. It will contain sports-related personal and general info and topics.
The author is Robert Marinus Louis Snapper, born on 03-08-1948 in Batavia - Dutch-Indies,
After 3 months we moved to Holland.
Already from very young age sports has intrigued me and am I fascinated what a human body can achieve.
Most likely it was an old friend named Piet Sodderland, who set it all off. In the fifties, we followed the Tour de France. The first stages were always won by André Darrigade and Jacques Anquetil also known as “Mr Chrono” was my hero. Together we cycled although my Mum´s bike was way too big. We played football in the street and on a piece of land in “Het Bezuidenhout” which was heavily bombed during the war. Also, we played on “Het Malieveld”. A 2nd. Choose leather football we bought in “Sporthuis Duyvenstein” and costed Df. 10. Those balls were not round but the fun was not less.
The first sportive steps were made by turn club "Olympia" in The Hague
After that, I joined football club. "V.U.C." Voortwaarts Utile Dulci Combinatie. www.vuc.nl
Frans de Munck “the black panther” was my football hero and Joop Castemiller was my coach. Not much talent for football
When I was 12 we moved to Dutch New-Guinea for about a year.
After our return in 1962, I attended “Nederlandsch Lyceum”. That was a school with a long hockey history, so I joined their club H.L.C.
I was most of the time a goalie and my nickname was “Mr Elastic Band”
I happen to have a Gym teacher who was like a father to me and stimulated me allot. The annual sports day at school was always the high light of the year for me.
Like many kids, I went through a period that I was very skinny. The Doctor advised to eat pure cream every morning and so I did. Also, Philip e Moi started with some weight training and bought some dumb belts.
During school, I was a pretty good swimmer (school champion), a reasonable table tennis player and also I loved playing Volleyball.
During that period I got my first proper bike followed by being one of the first to have a racing bike. That was a Raleigh and more or less the same model as was used in the Tour de France by the national team of Cees Pellenaers. We bought is at the shop of Gerrit Bontekoe. At the time a small fortune as the price was fl. 725. The Rector of my school was not very amused about me having the bike as he stated in a letter to my parents that my results at school were suffering from me riding on a bike with a high saddle. /(True story)
The next step was becoming a member of well-established tennis club "Leimonias" https://www.leimonias.nl also, together with my schoolfriend Philip Libourel. We spend many hours n the gravel of “Klein Zwitserland”
At a certain point, my Gym teacher Marinus Zimmerman felt that we had some talent for javelin throwing after we did not too bad during gym lessons. was.
The school needed some people who could bring in points for the Sports Interlyceale. That was a yearly meeting between the five oldest Lycea in Holland: Besides our school Het Nederlandsch there were also het Amsterdams, het Baarns, het Kennemer en het Lorentz Lyceum. To improve we were allowed to take some javelins home to practice. We found a reasonable field close to my home where we also spend many hours with javelin and shot put.
Most likely at the age of 16 I became a member of athletic club V&L (Vlug en Lenig) situated on the Sportlaan: www.haagatetiek.nl
After that, daily training became an integral part of my life. During my school years and my study period in Leiden thousands of hours were spent on training. It kind of ended not long after, when at the age of 25, I met my wife Anita Zimmerman (no not family of but coincidence does not exist).
Our life totally changed when we decided to move to Portugal for a new life and in some 2 months time, I hope to reach the age of 70.
In Portugal, I was active in playing tennis and cycling and started with indoor cardio training.
In 2002 my old sports friend Cees Keij, here in Portugal with me when I write this, introduced me to the Concept2 Rowing Machine (Row Erg).
That soon became a total addiction and I have now done over 60.000.000m.
Increased my fitness dramatically and was at the peak at age 62-63.
Due to the fact that the knees and ankles are gone, I had to give up running and tennis and also are reluctant to cycle being afraid of crashing in downhills.
Having said that, this month I have been on the bike in Mallorca and last week here in Portugal with Cees.
In April 2018 I added a Concept2 Ski Erg and Bike Erg to my fitness tools in my Gym and as I hope kind of to retire later this year I start this website in May 2018.
www.citius-altius-fortius.info should give me an incentive to fill the many leisure hours
Citius-Altius-Fortius, or always faster, higher and stronger has been my adagio during my school years and my lifetime.
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