Johannes Schans Talks About His Career On WOWSA Live
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International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame chairperson Ned Denison interviewed Hall of Fame Honor Swimmer Johannes Schans, a former world professional marathon swimming champion from the Netherlands, on today’s edition of WOWSA Live.
The 71-year-old retold his career and how he…
* won the Dutch 16U national title at the 400m in only his second year of swimming
* won the 1965 and 1967 distance freestyle title in the Netherlands
* swam in the 200m freestyle and Dutch relay at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games
* started racing marathon swimming in the 1969 Marathon du Saguenay from Chicoutimi to Bagotville in Quebec, Canada
* was coached by Herman Willemse who told him not to be afraid as he coached him for 2 years in Canada, America and around the world
* raced his second competition at the 1969 24 Heures La Tuque and finished second
* won his 10-mile Hamilton Marathon Swim in Ontario, Canada
* finished 2nd in the Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean to Horacio Iglesias
* won the America’s Marathon Swim in Newport, Rhode Island and then raced a point-to-point race in Syria
* became the world champion in 1970 after winning the Hamilton Marathon Swim, Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean, and the race in Chicago with Horacio Iglesias second
* won the 1971 24 Heures La Tuque with Iglesias
* won the 1972 and 1973 24 Heures La Tuque again with Iglesias and was asked to not swim with Iglesias anymore
* retired in 1974 and then became a water polo player and competitive swimmer
* retired as a pool manager and spends his time sailing with his wife
* trained in a Rhine canal, starting at 100 meters due to the cold of winter, and then increasing his distance 100 meters every day in the winter
* swam from Amsterdam to Maarsseveense Plassen, Utrecht in June 1970
* raced in Argentina while being friends with Iglesias and all the other swimmers from Egypt, Argentina, and Syria
* raced in the 57 km Maratón Acuática Internacional Santa Fe – Coronda while seeing the large crowds along the shore
* raced in Egypt against the Egyptians like Abou Heif – and never won due to the extra swimming in the Nile River
* swam in Aswan and in a circumnavigation race around Gezira Island in Cairo in 1971 and 1974
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