Pipe fitters for the Groningen company Waterbedrijf Groningen are officially the best in the world: the team won the world championships of pipe fitting in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
Translation by Traci White
The four-person team won first place at the 2018 World Water Cup, an international professional competition among teams from North America, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
The Groninger Internet Courant reports that the team – Harry Boels, Richard Koopman, Dennis Smit and coach Paul Knot – won the Dutch title, which earned them a place in the international championships in America. The national winning teams have to create a connection for three different systems from each of their countries, and their times are added up to determine the winner. The Dutch team’s combined time was better than the English and Mexican teams.
The Groningen team got down to business and was able to put together the system of pipes, tubes and water mains in a matter of minutes. The team had been training for six hours a week over the past year, in addition to their daily jobs.
Waterbedrijf Groningen’s team will face off against 24 other American teams on Wednesday, but the pipe fitters will return to the Netherlands on Sunday and get back to work as usual on Monday.
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