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Born in Gouda, the Netherlands, Jerome has a longstanding involvement in sailing. He started sailing Optimists aged six, attending three World Championships during his nine years in the class. He graduated from the Optimist to the Laser Radial and Europe before getting heavily involved in coaching. After studying Law at Erasmus University in Rotterdam he joined the Koninklijk Nederlands Watersport Verbond (KNWV) in 1989 as Head Coach for the Netherlands Olympic Yachting Team.

Following the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games, where the Netherlands won a bronze medal in the Lechner event, Jerome became the High Performance Director for the KNWV, a position he would hold for the next five years. At the next Olympic Sailing Competition, held in Savannah, USA, the Netherlands sailing team enjoyed their best medal tally since the 1936 Games, winning silver in the Europe and bronze in the Finn.

In April 1997, Jerome joined ISAF as the Competition Officer. He then became Events Manager before being promoted to Director of Sailing in January 2002. During his ten years at ISAF he has been involved in all of ISAF's major events. He was one of ISAF's Technical Delegates at the Sydney and Athens Olympic Games, a role he will again fill in Qingdao at the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition.