From the opening reception at the City Hall with the Lord Mayor to the final Atlantic Ocean swim around Sandycove Island, the hosts and organisers of the 2013 Global Open Water Swimming Conference out-did themselves.
In addition to gathering the luminaries of the sport, Oswald Schmidt kept the activities, speakers, and networking going strong throughout the conference in Cork, Ireland.
An Olympic gold medalist, world champions, and Kings of Channels from English to Robben Island, celebrated the WOWSA Awards winners and the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame Honourees. From the dramatic storytelling of Stephen Redmond and Anna-Carin Nordin to the scientific presentations that educated all, the information flow was constant and massively interesting.
But one of the highlights of the Conference was when Oswald Schmidt accepted on the behalf of the organising committee the inaugural Poseidon Award, an honor given by the International Swimming Hall of Fame to recognize those who have gone beyond the call of duty in the world of open water swimming.
That the organising committee most definitely did.
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.