Christmas with the sons: Sarah and Jan van Berkel can finally enjoy cookies together

Brother Tim (soon to be 4) can add some more wood and then we can finally get started. Mother Sarah (39), a former figure skater, prepared extra dough. There is no real Christmas feeling in the family’s wooden house in the canton of Aargau. “If there are no decorations, the boys cannot clean them up,” says Sarah van Berkel pragmatically. But here too, a few delicious cookies should not be missing.

New family life after top sport

It is the first Christmas for the van Berkel family without top sports and training plans. Papi Jan retired in July – with one final victory at the Ironman Switzerland to his name. “I’m fine with the dismissal and I have the feeling that I have arrived in my new life,” says Jan van Berkel, 37. He has found a new job. Since October he has been working 80 percent for a start-up in Zurich. He is helping to develop an app that encourages people to exercise more. Anyone who participates can collect points and then exchange them for new running shoes, coaching or a starting place in a race. A reward system for a lot of exercise. “Actually, not much has changed,” he says, laughing. “Now I want to ensure that as many people as possible participate in sports.”

Yet the family had to find itself again – not only because of Jan’s dismissal, but also because it started as a family of four after Noè’s birth. They both work a lot, says Sarah van Berkel, while she tries to pull the dough out of a bicycle mould. But many things have also become looser. “Jan never had time off, not even on weekends. Nowadays it’s not so bad if he can’t sleep well because of a few restless nights from the kids.” – “And I can finally eat the cookies too,” he interjects with a laugh. As a triathlete, he often had to go without carbohydrates.

Sport remains part of everyday life

Sports are still a high priority in the family. Jan cycles to the office in Zurich three times a week, which is at least 40 kilometers each way. And Sarah is on the ice more often – she has taken over the guidance of the young figure skaters and the Swiss top skaters at “Art on Ice”. She also supports beach volleyball players Anouk Vergé-Dépré and Joana Mäder with their media work. And she comments on the figure skating broadcasts on SRF. “Nowadays we see each other less than before. But that doesn’t just have to do with Jan’s dismissal; I also had a very long maternity leave and was often at home during that time.”

The cookies are cut out, Tim runs around the house presenting his toys. Sarah puts the tray in the oven. The Van Berkel family has not yet practiced Christmas rituals because the children are still too young for that. “But we will have dinner with our families and the children will get little gifts,” Sarah reveals. The couple also did not make any New Year’s resolutions. “We still have to deal with our new daily lives and always have to take small breaks. That is the priority at the moment.”