Henri Gerard Vriend (born May 20, 1938 in Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

, Noord-Holland) is a former water polo

Water polo

Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...

 player from The Netherlands, who competed in two Summer Olympics for his native country. In 1960

1960 Summer Olympics

The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held from August 25 to September 11, 1960 in Rome, Italy...

 he finished in eighth position with the Dutch Men's Team. Four years later in Tokyo

1964 Summer Olympics

The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's...

 he once again became eighth with the Holland squad. His brother Wim

Wim Vriend

Willem Jan Frederik Vriend is a former water polo player from The Netherlands, who finished in eighth position with the Dutch Men's Team at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. His older brother Harry was also a member of that team.-References:*...

 was also part of that team.

After his active career Vriend became a water polo coach; in the 1970s he was the head coach of the Dutch Men's Team. He stayed close to the sport afterwards and worked for NOS Studio Sport, the Dutch TV sports program, as a swimming

Swimming (sport)

Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

and water polo commentator.