Communication student Celia Visch has been riding among the world’s best BMX riders since a young age. But in recent years, she has struggled due to injuries. This summer, she wants to return to the top. “I want to be in that World Championship final someday.”
Now twenty years old, Celia started early, and that had everything to do with her brother, who is two years older. “My parents think sports are very important. Around the age of five, the Olympic Games were on television, and when my brother saw BMX, he wanted to do it too. There was a track nearby, in Nunspeet. When picking out his new bike, I said: I want one too!” Convenient, thought the parents of third-year communication student Celia (20). Then we can all go to the same track together, which is also fun. “I have been doing it for about fifteen years now and we travel all over Europe with the caravan for competitions at national, European and world level.”
World level
She has been competing at national and international levels since she was twelve. “Semi-finals, finals. Then you just keep going, because you want to keep getting better at what you do. It’s also just a really fun sport. I don’t do somersaults, like some people think. That’s the freestyle version; I do BMX racing. You start on a starting hill about five meters high and then you ride a lap including hills and sharp turns, which takes 30 to 40 seconds.”
During a competition, we park all our caravans together, at a nearby campsite or by the racetrack. A European Championship in Italy, the World Championships in Scotland and Denmark, races in Belgium, Germany, and France. The caravan is our second home, and a whole BMX family has formed by now. For three years in a row, she finishes third in the Netherlands. In 2023, she takes eleventh place at the World Championship in Scotland. The following year, Italy gives her fifth place in Europe. “Because of a heavy thunderstorm, there was so much water on the track. And yet I finished fifth; I was very happy with that!”
Not without danger
Competing at the highest level is dangerous, something Celia can confirm despite her young age. In terms of injuries, she has had a number of tough years behind her. “When I was sixteen, I broke both collarbones at the same time, had a concussion, and a black eye. I jumped off a ten-meter-high bump, and the wind got under my bike. I fell first on my right and then on my left side. I was riding in the Junior Championship class, but had to take a step back that year, towards the Challenge class.” “After that fall, I became afraid to jump again; it got into my head. Moreover, it wasn’t the only injury: that same year I suffered three concussions and was knocked down by other riders multiple times. Fortunately, I could, and still can, talk about it openly with my parents, because that was simply a year of bad luck.”
Tears
In 2024, Celia falls again, this time on her hip, sustaining a back injury. She continues competing but notices that the pain persists, despite treatments from the physiotherapist. “A few months later, I had a national competition where I was crying from the pain. It was my mother who said: I am going to withdraw you; this is pointless. We are going to look for a good sports doctor first.”
“You keep going and need someone else to call you back. After an MRI, it turned out that my vertebrae were rubbing against each other, a common problem among road cyclists and BMX riders.”
As a top athlete, not everything is always in your control. Bad luck is sometimes part of the game. Celia mentions an incident at last year’s World Championships in Denmark. “I felt so strong.” But still, things went wrong. “My clip-in shoe came undone during the quarter-final.” So much for a good final ranking. “Sometimes you have no influence on things like that.”
In the meantime, Celia is seeing the right physiotherapist to work on her recovery. “That is someone who also treats the Dutch BMX team. That is going very well.”
Back on track
So, back after a break, although she was never really gone. This summer is when it has to happen: competing at the top of the women’s 17+ class again, just like before. “During the European Championships in France, the last weekend of June, I am going to try to reach the final again. And shortly after that, in early July, the National Championships are also on the schedule.”
The major tournaments run like a common thread through Celia’s life. Those are the moments when it has to happen. It is especially bitter that she has to skip the World Championships this year of all things. “It is simply too expensive to go all the way to the other side of the world.” But, she emphasizes, eventually all the pieces of the puzzle will fall into place. “I will keep going until I am in the World Championship final.”
text: Michelle van der Molen
photo: Jasper van Overbeek
