Recruiting in Open Water Swimming

Background OWS has until recently been in the shadow of pool swimming due to many different reasons (coaches’ lack of knowledge, unfamiliar environment, etc.). However, it is through OWS that not only can pool swimmers prolong their swimming career instead of abandoning this activity in their late teens, but also both recreational and elite OW swimmers can promote the idea of a green and sustainable sport (swimming in seas, lakes, rivers) which can be practiced throughout their lifetime. Objectives To increase awareness of both pool coaches and swimmers about the possibility of continuing their swimming career on elite and recreational level by supporting the mobility of swimming stakeholders through exchanging of experience on international level. Not less important is the objective of promoting a health-enhancing experience manifesting itself in the possibility of life-long swimming in natural, sustainable environments reducing a negative impact on and promoting the health of the planet. Implementation Alongside with organizing OWS competitions on international level, a survey regarding the experience of swimmers and involved stakeholders was conducted. Several individual meetings with some members of the LEN Technical Committee, as well as with presidents of EU swimming federations were held to establish main problems and possible solutions. The project partners’ social media sites offer a link connection to the project website. Beach flags were displayed at 3 OWS events. Achievements At the beginning the project started with the assumption that pool swimmers fear the open waters and therefore do not engage in OWS. However, in these years it was shown that the main problem were the coaches who thought OWS negatively affects the results of their swimmers in the pool. The successes of the best pool swimmers in OWS have obviously changed this paradigm, which resulted in a huge increase of elite pool swimmers in OWS (LEN European OWS championships 2021 and 2022).