[1] Six-foot tall, and left-handed, Van Dijk was rated as among the six best épée fencers in Holland.
Within a few weeks of his arrival in Australia, he joined the Swords Club and won the New South Wales foils and épée championships.
On the foundation of the Australian Fencing Association in 1949, he entered the first championships and won the first national titles in foils and épée.
[2] In August 1953, Van Dijk married Mahdi Browning of Hunters Hill, New South Wales.
A niece of the novelist Daphne du Maurier the wedding took place at St Stephen's Presbyterian Church, Macquarie Street, Sydney.