Article by Robert Swanepoel
Article Published: 01 September 2009

PETER VD MERWE

Not many fanciers can lay claim to the title of the “Legend of Holland”. However there is a young fancier who has for many years been amongst the absolute top of International pigeon racing and above all owns a super colony of pigeons. This man is 36 year old, Peter Van de Merwe of Dordrecht. Every year we find his name amongst the National champions, with almost weekly top results and 1st prizes against massive competition. He has already won 8 National victories and is therefore the youngest “Legend of Holland”

36 Year Old Peter in front of his lofts

At a very young age Peter won National classics and beat many of the older champions. As he developed his skills he became a legend. In 2006 another National victory followed and no less than six provincial victories, against 25,745p. – 44,240p. – 22,571p. – 30,074p. – 13,133p. Add to this the 4th National championship middle distance, the car winner on the National young bird derby and the title 1st National superstar middle distance of Holland De Duif … and the simple conclusion is; the 2006 season could be closed with a golden key.

His best results at Provincial and National level are given in this article as well as the results for this year, so far, and they are breathtaking. His collection of pigeons are unequalled and the top racers are true pearls of the sky. There is no end to the super achievements by Peter.

2008 Results – (So far this year)
This year Peter has continued racing as a superstar. His results for this year are nothing short of spectacular, winning 1, 2, 4, 5, 17 etc against 1 507p from Criel, 1, 5, 14 etc against 3 538p from Menen and the fastest pigeon out of 27 000p. To top this all he achieved the following results at provincial level:

Creil – (325km) 12 422p - 2-3-7-17-25-26-45-51-62-65 etc
Sezanne (350km) 7 403p - 2-3-5-44-48-55-69-73 etc
Peronne (243km) 3 560p - 1-9-11-13-16-24-29-36-38-58-60-67-69-72 etc
Creil – (325km) 6 292p - 2-3-14-16-41-46-52-58 etc

Other results for 2008
Creil - 3 288p 2-3-5-12-16-17-25-29-34-35 etc
Sezanne - 1 867p 2-3-5-12-15-18-24-26-32-39 etc
Strombeek - 4 563p 1-2-4-11-14-26-30-31-33-35 etc
Pommereoul -5 803p 1st
Peronne - 2 595p 1-16-20-21-23-24-37 etc
Peronne - 3 560p 1-9-11-13-16-24-29-36-38 etc
St Quentin - 3 188p 3-7-17-20-26-30-42-43-47 etc



Peter hails from Dordrecht, close to Rotterdam in the western part of The Netherlands. Despite his young age he is often called the most experienced talent within our noble sport. However Peter has been an active pigeon fancier since 1985… and from the very beginning at the highest level. Not long after his entrance, Peter grabbed his first National NPO victory, a number that now totals 7 and numerous National ace pigeons, in other words twenty three years of pigeon racing from another planet!

Peter van de Merwe is the first of a new generation of young fanciers who have broken through the domination of the older establishment in the sport. Despite his young age he has already achieved every goal he had set for himself in Dutch pigeon racing. For Peter all the pieces came together when his ‘Gwen’ became 1st National young ace pigeon of The Netherlands in 2001, a dream he had treasured for many years, namely breeding a National ace pigeon. This was preceded by many years of hard labour characterized by years of top performances.


The first steps
Peter’s renowned and very successful pigeon fancier uncle, Piet VD Merwe, was responsible for Peter’s first steps in the pigeon world. Until then Peter loved all animals but his real love for pigeons started when Peter caught an injured pigeon and nursed it back to health and then released it to fly back home. From that moment Peter had lost his heart to pigeon racing.

Uncle Piet saw a potential new fancier in Peter and gave him 11 youngsters. Naturally a good shelter had to come for these 11 and dad Adrie was brought in to build the first loft … the start of a glorious career. Very soon Peter won top prizes and with that he drove the older fanciers crazy! Headlines in the papers shouted only superlatives about the talented Peter van de Merwe, not knowing then that as Peter’s know-how grew through the years, the level of his performances would only get better! Peter married Nathalie and together they have a daughter named Gwen. With the family settled, the level of racing very soon got to the absolute top …

Almost unstoppable
His impressive debut in the eighties was followed by a decade of success in the nineties. Peter grabbed many victories against massive birdage. And where many fanciers spend a lifetime dreaming about a National victory, Peter already grabbed one as a teenager! To add 6 more golden National NPO positions in the years to follow! Phenomenal Peters list of honors do not only consist of National victories. Just a small indication, during the last decade Peter has won
75 x 1st prizes in big competition against thousands of pigeons. An incredible achievement of top quality racing! (Up until 2006)

The Loft
At an early stage the little loft for the eleven youngsters did not suit the plans of this ambitious fancier. A new shelter for the champions came in the form of a wooden loft of 21 meters, facing south-east. With Peter being a carpenter and his dad a bricklayer a top quality loft was forthcoming. Peter houses 46 racers, of all couples he only races with one of the partners. The widowhood loft is 5 meters long and houses 30 widowers. The section for the widowhood hens is 3 meters long and from here 16 hens are raced. From the racers and breeders approximately 80 -- 100 youngsters are bred. The young bird loft is divided in two sections of 4 meters; both of them have aviaries in front. Two lofts of 2,5 meters with aviaries in the front house the 25 pairs of breeders.



The Pigeons
Today, his family of pigeons consists of the following lines: Tournier, from his Uncle Piet vd Merwe, superb Van Loon pigeons direct from Louis Van Loon, and the best of the Brothers De Wit and naturally the best of the Jansen lines.
These pigeons together form an explosive cocktail of the best in the sport!
It is not possible to give a complete list of achievements in this article. To get a better understanding of the successes and quality of the pigeons of this superstar, have a look at his website at http://www.petervandemerwe.nl.

We thank Peter for assisting us in bringing six of his top family to ZA!

This article and the information herein have been compiled with the permission of Peter VD Merwe and includes content found on his website. The 2008 results and other information were supplied by Peter via Wim Van Elsland in Holland.