I grew up near Santa Cruz, California. My parents were immigrants from the Netherlands, who came to America in the early 1960s looking for opportunities not available in post-war Europe. Growing up as a typical California “beach kid”, I surfed, swam and played water polo. Thanks to swimming – and my ability to do well on “fill in the bubble” standardized tests – I was admitted to the University of California, Berkeley after high school. At Cal, I began studying Nuclear Engineering, but fairly quickly switched to Political Science and Economics. At the same time, I competed for the men’s swim team collegiately and represented the Netherlands internationally. Swimming gave me the opportunit