Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.
Few people have positively impacted and influenced the world of open water swimming over a course of the last few decades like Richard Broer.
The Dutch open water swimmer, promoter, event organizer, administrator and coach has literally touched each aspect of the sport, from charity relay swims to the promotion of thousands of open water events throughout Europe, relentlessly and tirelessly doing his part to help others.
His list of accomplishments is impressively long and is an embodiment of the passion and knowledge that he offers the sport.
He works from pool decks to escort boat decks. He spends countless hours behind a computer screen and completing paperwork. He motivates and he inspires swimmers from all walks of life and all abilities.
Online Presence
* Broer manages the Netherlands Open Water Web, a comprehensive and authoritative source of open water swimming information in Dutch that he started in 1998 (www.noww.nl) that continues to thrive with information about nationally-sanctioned swims and non-sanctioned swim and includes pre-race information, registration entries, results, and visual and descriptive reports of the races.
* Broer is the co-webmaster of Openwaterswimming.eu, a comprehensive and authoritative source of open water swimming information and swimming holidays throughout Europe.
Athletic Accomplishments
*Broer started his open water swimming career in 1974 and remains active in 2016.
* Broer swam across the Strait of Gibraltar in 2008 in 5 hours 4 minutes at the age of 49.
* Broer set a record at the Netherlands national open water competition in 1978 that remains untouched.
* Broer was the second Dutchman under 16 minutes in the 1500m freestyle, performed in 1979.
* Broer was a top 20 swimmer at Dutch national open water swimming competitions between 1992 and 2011.
* Broer was the first Dutchman and remains the national record holder for a solo crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar, set in 2008.
* Broer swam with team IJsselmeerbikkels that set the Dutch national 6-man record for an English Channel relay crossing in 2010.
* Broer coached and swam with the Channel Team Wassenaar to a national English Channel record for men on a EFE crossing and a FE crossing in 2014.
* Broer completed 3 solo crossings, more than 10 relay crossings and more than 20 crossings as a coach in the IJsselmeer event in the Netherlands.
Administrative Work
* Broer is a member of the Technical Open Water Swimming Committee in the Netherlands.
* Broer is responsible for an annual Dutch open water swimming publication that lists all the national association events.
Coaching Achievements
* Broer is a coach and trainer for channel swimmers and marathon swimmers, specializing in team-building. He currently enjoys a 100% success rate with teams and swimmers across the English Channel and Strait of Gibraltar that includes 2 world and 7 national (speed) records.
* Broer coached the Dutch Ladies First, a 6-women relay team who set the two-way all-female English Channel records (EFE and FE) in 18 hours 22 minutes under the escort of Captain Lance Oram on the Sea Satin. The Dutch Ladies First were nominated for the 2012 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year award.
* Broer has served as a member of the Technical Open Water Committee of Royal Netherlands Swimming Association from 1995 to the present.
* Broer has served as the Chairperson of the Technical Open Water Committee of Royal Netherlands Swimming Association from 2011 to the present.
* Broer has served as a member of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame board of directors and is a member of the International Voting Panel representing Europe since 2007.
* Broer coached Channel Team Wassenaar, a team that raised €37,000 in its 2011 English Channel crossing.
* Broer coached and swam with the first mixed gay, non-gay Dutch swim team with HHZV Plons across the English Channel in 2013.
* Broer coached a breaststroke swimming team for a double IJsselmeer (M-S-M) in 2015.
* Broer coached female winner Délenn van Oostom at the Open Dutch Championships in 2015 in IJsselmeer S-M.
* Broer coached the duo IJsselmeer S-M charity relay called Extreem tegen Kanker in 2015.
*Broer coached ECSC-one80fit at IJsselmeer S-M in 2015 and observed their qualification to swim the English Channel in 2015.
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