Champion 'De Barcelona' NL84-326948 1st Open Dutch Nat. Barcelona 6,612b 4th International Barcelona 25,502b flying 710mls. Bred and raced by Wim Coenen, 'De Barcelona' was of van der Wegen origin, bred via the old lines of 'Oude Doffertje' who was partly of Aarden and partly of Delbar blood. As a producer the 'Oude Doffertje' was second to none being the sire and grand sire to many top long distance birds including the famous 'Lamme'. Champion 'De Barcelona'  won seven prizes at Nat & Int. Nat. from 600 - 710 mls inc three times from Barcelona.

Champion 'Verreweg de Beste' NL86-886302 1st Dutch Nat Barcelona 758 mls 8,163b. 2nd Int Nat Barcelona 27,352b. and 4 times a Nat prize winner from St Vincent at 685mls. He was bred and raced by Jomp Kleen via the line of 'Kline Naut', 'Prinses' and van Geel's 'Moeder Barcelona' via line of 'Ligtenberg'.

Champion 'De Smaragd Barcelona'  NL83-865526 1st Dutch Nat. Barcelona at 763 mls and 10th Int Nat Barcelona 21,545b. on what is thought to be the hardest Barcelona race on record. He was the reult of a 50/50 cross of Marijn van Geel and Kuyper Bros breeding. De Smargd Barcelona is a cousin the duel 1st Open Barcelona winning brother and sister 'De Smaragd I' and 'De Smaragd II'. He was purchased by Louella for £36,000.

Champion 'De Schele' NL88-5870733 1st Dutch Nat. Dax 27,931b 624mls, 181st Dutch Nat. St Vincent 21,464b 650mls, 110th Provincial St Vincent 8,240b. A remarkable racer when you consider that he was four times a National prize winner by the time he was two years old! Bred and raced by Thei Hermans.

Champion 'De Vader Barcelona' NL84-1161089 This fantastic cock's pedigree can be traced right back to the very roots of the Jan Aarden strain being a g.son of 'Klein Naut' (NL61-530) and 'De 91' (NL67-391) . 'Vader Barcelona' is a half brother to the 1st Dutch Nat Barcelona for Piet van der Slik and he is also the sire of Champion 'Verreweg de Beste'.

Champion 'De Smaragd II' NL85-8559363  At three years old this fantastic cock was clocked at 6:16am at Hedel in Holland having flown 750mls, almost 100mls further than the majority of the rest of the field. Bred and raced by Wim van Leeuwen from a long line of proven breeders, he was purchased by Louella for a then world record sum of £77,000.  He was 1st Nat 5,451b. 1st Int Nat. Barcelona 21,176b 750mls.

Champion 'Zoon Dolle 800' NL79-1445800 Bred by the late great Marijn van Geel, he's one of the best sons ever from the legendary 'Oude Dolle67' progenitor of the van Geel strain, when paired to the '05 Duiven'. The 'Dolle 800' was one of the last surviving sons of the 'Dolle67', though 'Dolle 800' never raced he proved to be an excellent breeder, helping to ensure that the van Geel legacy continued long after his death in 1983.

Champion 'De Schlangen Barcelona' NL87-2744348 Bred and raced by Pierre Schlangen and of breeding similar to that of 'De Barcelona' namely van der Wegen blood. He won 1st Open Nat Barcelona 6,812b. 4th Int Nat Barcelona 28,128b flying 700mls. He was one of only 725 birds from six countries to home on the day, beating the second bird into Holland by 54ypm. He was purchased for more than £36,000.

Champion 'Bruder Beatrix' NL88-2383101 Only ever stock, being purchased by Louella as a youngster. He is full brother to Kuyper Bros Champion 'Beatrix' the winner of 1st Nat. St Vincent 55,377b, 2nd Nat. Dax 26,000b. Sold to Japan for £65,000.

Champion 'Invincible Spirit' NL88-8840569 Bred and raced by Martin Biemans 1st Nat 7,242b. 1st Int Nat. Barcelona 27,068b at a distance of 719mls. He also acheived 23rd Nat 8,163b 42nd Int Nat Barcelona 27,352b.  He was the only pigeon from over 27,000b and eight countries flying over 700mls to make the top 100 of the international result two years running. In all this incredible bird flew 3 x Barcelona and was purchased by Louella for a world record £110,000. He is responsible for countless numbers of winners all over the world.

Champion 'Zoon Beatrix' NL89-1854522 Bred by Kuyper Bros, the only son of the fabulous 'Beatrix' to come into the UK. 'Beatrix' was a winner of 1st Nat. St Vincent 55,377b, 2nd Nat. Dax 26,000b. Sold to Japan for £65,000.

Champion 'De Vale Barcelona' B85-6133594 Bred by Emil Willemsen this fantastic racer was the farthest flying bird ever to win Barcelona into Belgium at 704mls. He acheived 1st Nat Barcelona12,999b. 4th Int Nat Barcelona 28,128b. 35 Nat Bourges 14,726. 120th Nat Cahors 7,021b.

*All the above birds were purchased for huge sums of money and are now owned by Louella Stud.

The Kuyper Bros

Thought by many to be one of the world's greatest long distance flyers, Kuyper Bros have been winners many times of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc. at National & International level from 680 to 714 miles. They achieved 2nd & 3rd Open Dutch National Barcelona with their famous brothers 'Barcelona II' & 'Barcelona I' and the following season won 1st & 3rd National Barcelona with 'Barcelona I' and his full brother 'Barcelona III'. It was to be the start of a fairy tale career. The Kuyper Bros. were owners of 'De Kromme', his descendants went on to win 6 x 1st Nationals and Internationals from Barcelona at over 740 miles, they included Champions 'De Smaragd II', 'De Smaragd Barcelona' & 'De Smaragd I'. Furthermore, the Kuyper Bros. bred & raced the legendary 'Beatrix', a winner of 2nd National Dax 26,000 & 1st National St Vincent 55,377b. both over 600 miles winning 2 cars, she was sold to China in 1988 for approx £65,000.

My Kuyper Bros are as close to the originals as you'll find anywhere today - I've g.children of 'Beatrix', 'Zoon Spin', 'De Catalonian' etc... closely related to Barcelona I, II, III.

Wim van Leeuwen

In 1988 the international victory for Wim van Leeuwen was to make him a household name, as his three year old cock, later to be named 'De Smaragd II', took first place against a field of 21,174b and went on to make history for being the then most expensive racing pigeon ever sold at £77,000. It all started off in 1975 when Wim bought YBs from Marijn van Geel and the Kuyper Bros from Neer. From 1980 onwards Wim experienced success at the distance with 74th Nat St Vincent with over 14,654b. then in 1981winning the Dax National against 9,591b. In 1984 with 'De Smaragd I' , the full sister to his 1988 winner 'De Smaragd II', Wim was 2nd Nat and 1st International hens and again in 1985 with 6th Nat and 2nd Int hens Barcelona with the same bird. Both  'De Smaragd I & II'  were purchased by Louella Stud in 1989 for £99,000.

Marijn van Geel

The late Marijn van Geel from Niew Vossemeer in Holland, succeeded in breeding a family of birds with exceptional perseverance and exceptional character whose base stock birds were obtained from Giel van Agtmal , the best friend of Jan Aarden in the mid 1950's. Two of the best long distance racers and breeders ever flown in Holland were the 'Lange' entered 18 times for National races above 625mls winning 17 prizes and the 'Dolle 67' ended his distinguished career in 1975 (8 years old) with a 3rd Nat St Vincent and four weeks later 3rd Nat Dax. The original van Geels have been the building blocks for many long distance lofts around the world. Champions such as 'Vlekje', 'Zoon Dolle 800', 'Dochter Dolle 290', 'Favorit', 'Dolle Kuif' etc... are household names now and fanciers such as the Kuyper Bros, Wim van Leewen, Jomp Kleen etc. own their success in part to the late great Marijn van Geel.  

Jan Aarden

His name is used widely and / or associated with Dutch long distance racing pigeons, for many he was the creator of the Dutch long distance pigeon. Over the years Jan Aarden succesfully blended together several breeds of pigeon including the Delbars to create his own breed and from the 1930's onwards the legacy began. In later years both Jan Aarden and others including van Agtmal, van der Wegen and van Geel to name but a few who had obtained his birds, dominated from races such as Dax, St Vincent and Barcelona. This put the small Dutch village of Steenburgen firmly on the map as the heart of distance racing. Fanciers from all over the world came to obtain birds of the Jan Aarden origin resulting in the success of many of the modern day long distance fanciers.