Global Open Water Swimming Conference

The 2012 Global Open Water Swimming Conference will be held on September 21 – 22 on the Queen Mary in downtown Long Beach.  The Conference will include some of the most dynamic personalities and charismatic individuals in the open water swimming world today.  The Conference will also include the induction dinner of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, hosted by 7-time world professional marathon swimming champion Shelley Taylor-Smith, where the following individuals will be honored:

• Larisa Ilchenko (Russia), 2008 Olympic 10K Marathon Swim gold medalist
• Maarten van der Weijden (Netherlands), 2008 Olympic 10K Marathon Swim gold medalist & leukemia survivor
• Sri Chinmoy (India), posthumously inducted as Honour Administrator
• Ned Denison (Ireland), accomplished marathon swimmer, coach and Honour Administrator
• David Parcells (USA), channel swimmer posthumously inducted as an Honour Swimmer
• Faros Maratón Swim (Croatia) as an Honour Organisation
• Irish Long Distance Swimming Association (Ireland) as an Honour Organisation
• Marcos Díaz (Dominican Republic), United Nations Swimming Ambassador
• Drury Gallagher (USA), founder of the Manhattan Island Swimming Association
• Chad Hundeby (USA), English Channel and Catalina Channel record holder
• Eleanor Studley Hurd (USA), swam between Europe and Asia posthumously honored
• Des Renford (Australia), 19-time English Channel swimmer posthumously honored

The Conference will also include the World Open Water Swimming Awards, hosted by the Daily News of Open Water Swimming Editor-in-Chief Steven Munatones, where the following individuals will be honored:

• Nejib Belhedi (Tunisia) 2011 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year
• Pilar Geijo (Argentina), 2011 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year
• Jamie Patrick (USA), 2011 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year

The Conference will also include the following speakers:

• Wayne Riddin (South Africa), race director of the world’s largest open water swim, the Midmar Mile
• Mark Perry (UK), head coach of British Swimming
• Colin Hill (UK), Technical Director of the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim at the
  2012 London Olympics
• Diana Nyad (USA), International Swimming Hall of Fame and International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame dual inductee
• Shelley Taylor-Smith (Australia), 7-time world professional marathon swimming champion
• Forrest Nelson (USA), Catalina Channel Swimming Federation president and channel swimmer
• Dr. Marcy Macdonald (USA), 12-time English Channel swimmer
• Martin Strel (Slovenia), Big River Man
• Ricardo Ratto (Brazil), Olympic 10 km Marathon Swim referee and coordinator of the Travessia dos Fortes
• Yutaka Shinozaki (Japan), Founder of Japan International Open Water Swimming Association
• Craig Dietz (USA), Limbless Waterman
• Greta Andersen (USA), Olympic Gold Medalist and International Swimming Hall of Fame and International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame dual inductee
• Dr. Khwaja Aziz (Bangladesh), FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee

The Conference will also include a special real-time Skype conference with the following swimmers:

• Ben Lecomte (USA/France) who will be swimming from Tokyo to San Francisco in The Longest Swim
• Night Train Swimmers (USA) who will be swimming from San Francisco to Los Angeles
• Lewis Pugh (South Africa) who swam at the North Pole and on Mount Everest

Click here to register for the conference!

Click here for a full agenda.