Van der Zwaard twice represented her native country in the 400 m event at the Summer Olympics, in 1964 and 1968. Her best achievement was sixth place in 1964.[4]
She was born Mathilda Catrina van der Zwaard in Leiden, Netherlands.[4] On 25 November 1964 she married Ger van der Made[5] and changed her name to van der Made-van der Zwaard.[4] After their divorce, she dropped van der Made from her name. She moved to the United States after retiring from athletics and died February 2019 in Edgewater, Florida.[1][2]
^ ab"Tilly van der Zwaard overleden" [Tilly van der Zwaard passed away]. atletiekunie.nl (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2019.