2012 Global Open Water Swimming Conference

The 2012 Global Open Water Swimming Conference will bring together many luminaries of the sport with numerous Olympians and world champions discussing open water swimming and sharing their secrets on the RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, California on September 21-22, 2012. Every aspect of the sport will be discussed and presented to participants from 19 countries, from extreme swimming (with Ram Barkai, founder of the International Ice Swimming Association) to the English Channel (with Michael Read MBE, president of the Channel Swimming Association). The Conference will also include the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame induction ceremonies where the following individuals and organizations 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), teacher, poet and endurance athlete posthumously inducted as Honour Administrator  Ned Denison (Ireland), marathon swimmer and Honour Administrator  Chris Green (UK), marathon swimmer and 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), marathon swimmer and 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), first woman to swim between Europe and Asia posthumously honored  Des Renford (Australia), former King of the Channel (19-time English Channel swimmer) posthumously honored For more information, visit www.imathlete.com/.../Even...spx or email lexie@openwaterswimming.com. __________________