Ned Denison, chairperson of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (@imshofame), announced Richard Broer (@channelchallenge.nl) of the Netherlands as the recipient of the 2025 Dale Petranech Award for Services to the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame.
Broer has worked tirelessly for the sport of open water swimming for decades – as a swimmer since 1964, coach, promoter, event organizer, administrator, referee, observer, and an extraordinary information resource.
Among his awards over the years, Broer was inducted as an Honor Contributor (Administrator) in the IMSHOF Class of 2016 and was selected to received the 2016 Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award from the International Swimming Hall of Fame. In addition to his 2025 Dale Petranech Award for Services to the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, he is also one of fou Dutch swimmers to receive the prestigious Orde van Oranje-Nassau – together with Olympic gold medalists Ferry Weertman and Sharon van Rouwendaal, and Olympian and world champion Edith van Dijk, PhD.
“His plethora of honors and awards are all very well deserved,” said Steven Munatones. “From helping establish the global ice swimming community together with Ram Barkai of the International Ice Swimming Association and the the IISA Netherlands with Fergil Hesterman, Christa Hesterman-van Beers, Irene van der Laan and Jac Guijt to swimming across the Strait of Gibraltar and doing three 22 km 22 IJsselmeer Zwemmarathon swims in the Netherlands, Richard has literally help the sport in innumerable ways and in different roles.“
He managed the Dutch OpenWater Swimming and European OpenWater Swimming websites, served on the Technical Open Water Swimming Committee in the Netherlands, coached many channel soloists and relays including Dutch Ladies First, a 6-women relay with Margot Stenveld, Desirée Emmen, Janneke Harmsen-Bakker, Jasmijn Ruijgrok, Gemma Middendorp and Linda Hoogendam who set the two-way all-female English Channel record in 18 hours 22 minutes. He has also served as a member of the Technical Open Water Committee of Royal Netherlands Swimming Association from 1995 to the present.
Dale Petranech Award Recipients
2016: Dale Petranech (USA)
2017: no award presented
2018: Herman Willemse (Netherlands)
2019: Chris Guesdon (Australia)
2020: Beth Yudovin (USA)
2021: Commander Charles Gerald Forsberg OBE, RN (Rtd.) (UK)
2022: Steven Munatones (USA)
2023: David Yudovin (USA)
2024: Melissa Cunningham Roberts (Australia)
2025: Richard Broer (Netherlands)
© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
“to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shoreline“
A World Open Water Swimming Federation project.