Alex Meyer, the first American to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics, spoke passionately and confidently to an overflow audience of enthusiastic coaches and administrators at the US Aquatic Sports Convention in Jacksonville, Florida.
After he explained his own introduction and development in the sport, Alex issued a challenge to the Local Swim Committees in the United States to host an open water event and get their young athletes interested in the sport.
Alex conveyed the excitement of open water swimming that he encountered as a young swimmer in upstate New York, swimming in Ithaca’s Cayuga Lake. He explained his experiences from the London Olympic test event from this past August. The event itself will certainly be a crowd favorite, “It was great to see tons of people standing outside the Serpentine during the race, I can’t imagine how exciting it’s going to be during the Olympics.”
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.