Athlete, Business Owner

Psychology - University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Daughter Ayana

Dutch, English, Portuguese, Spanish

JUMP Freerun [Netherlands]

Mark van Swieten [club, national], NED

In July 2017 he injured his ankle and could not train for a month. (Instagram profile, 25 Aug 2017)

He began freerunning in 2011 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. "From an early age I have always been moving. I tried to climb into everything and tried to balance on everything I saw. That's why I started capoeira [a Brazilian martial art form] at the age of six, I did this for six years. I thought capoeira was great and this gave me a very good basis from which to continue working." (lucianobalestra.com, 18 Dec 2017)

"I discovered freerunning when I came in contact with Planet Contra [Amsterdam, Netherlands]. They had rented a room every week where the freerunners from Amsterdam came together. I came here and I loved it. I had finally found what I had been looking for all my life. It is outdoor play for adults. It is also possible everywhere - give me a sidewalk or just a lawn and I can do something with it. I see the world as a playground." (houtensnieuws.nl, 15 Sep 2019; back2basicspk.nl, 01 Jan 2018)

He trains six days a week. (lucianobalestra.nl, 01 Jan 2022)

"Free your mind." (Facebook profile, 12 Jan 2022)

General
OTHER ACTIVITIES
He co-owns JUMP Freerun, a parkour and freerunning academy with several locations in the Netherlands. "I see the children who come, enjoy and quickly gain self-confidence, they learn to focus. That is part of the mental aspect of freerunning. The performance is not paramount, certainly not at a young age. In many other sports children are told you have to do this or do that. With freerunning, it comes from yourself. It is about what makes you feel comfortable." In 2019 he appeared as a freerunner in a film called 'Amsterdam Heroes', which was directed by his mother, Julia Strijland. The film focused on the lives of people living in the Dutch city. (Instagram profile, 17 Sep 2022; houtensnieuws.nl, 15 Sep 2019; ccamstel.nl, 19 Jan 2019; geografie.nl, 24 May 2019; Julia Strijland Vimeo account, 15 Feb 2019)