Richard Broer

Richard Broer is an Honor Contributor (Administrator) in the Class of 2017 in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame

Dutch Ladies First, record-setting relay coached by Richard Broer

Dutch Ladies First, record-setting relay coached by Richard Broer

Richard Broer

Richard Broer is a Dutch open water swimming enthusiast, promoter, event organiser, administrator, coach and swimmer. He is a member of the Order of Orange-Nassau in the Netherlands.

Open Water Swimming Career

• He is a Patron of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame.
• He is certified as an IISA Official Observer L1 as of 1 March 2022.
• He serves as an International Ice Swimming Association official.
• He is a co-founder of the IISA Netherlands with Fergil Hesterman and Christa Hesterman-van Beers with Irene van der Laan and Jac Guijt as board members.
• He manages the Dutch OpenWater Swimming website.
• He is the co-webmaster of the European OpenWater Swimming website (openwaterswimming.eu).
• He swam across the Strait of Gibraltar on 2 October 2008 in 5 hours 4 minutes, finishing at the New Tanger Port, at the age of 49. The first Dutchman to do so.
• He is a member of the Technical Open Water Swimming Committee in the Netherlands.
• He is a coach and trainer for channel swimmers and marathon swimmers including across the English Channel and the IJseelmeer.
• He swam as part of the 6-male relay team IJsselmeerbikkels the fastest English Channel relay crossing in 2010.
• He coached the Dutch Ladies First, a 6-women relay team of Margot Stenveld, Desirée Emmen, Janneke Harmsen-Bakker, Jasmijn Ruijgrok, Gemma Middendorp and Linda Hoogendam who set the two-way all-female English Channel record in 18 hours 22 minutes under the escort of Captain Lance Oram on the Sea Satin. The Dutch Ladies First were nominated for the 2012 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year award.
• He started his open water swimming career in 1964 and remains active in 2021 as a swimmer, coach, administrator and event organizer.
• He is responsible for an annual Dutch open water swimming publication that lists all the national association events and serves as a comprehensive information source for the Dutch open water swimming community.
• He started a website on open water swimming in 1998 (www.noww.nl) that continues to thrive with information about nationally-sanctioned swims and non-sanctioned swim that includes pre-race information, registration entries, results, and visual and descriptive reports of the races.
• He started a second website on open water swimming ([1]) that serves as the hub for open water swimming in Europe and provides a comprehensive event calendar for European open water swims and open water swimming holidays.
• Broer has served as a member of the Technical Open Water Committee of Royal Netherlands Swimming Association from 1995 to the present.
• Broer has served as the webmaster of Netherlands Open Water Web (www.noww.nl) that promotes open water swimming from 1998 to the present.
• Broer has served as the Chairperson of the Technical Open Water Committee of Royal Netherlands Swimming Association from 2011 to the present.
• Broer served on the Board of Directors of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame prior to organizational structural changes in 2015 and is currently on the Executive Committee.
• Broer won and set a record at the Netherlands national open water competition; a record that remains untouched since 1978.
• Broer was the second Dutchman under 16 minutes in the 1500m freestyle, performed in 1979.
• Broer was a top 20 swimmer at Dutch national open water swimming competitions between 1992 and 2011.
• Broer was the first Dutchman and remains the national record holder for a solo crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar, set in 2008.
• Broer swam with team IJsselmeerbikkels that improved the Dutch national record of a E-F English Channel relay crossing (EF) in 2010.
• Broer coached and swam with the Channel Team Wassenaar to a national English Channel record for men on a EFE crossing and a FE crossing in 2014.
• Broer completed 4 solo crossings, more than 10 relay crossings and more than 20 crossings as a coach in the IJsselmeer event in the Netherlands.
• Broer started training and coaching marathon swimming after his successful Strait of Gibraltar crossing. His specialty includes English Channel relay attempts with the emphasis on the team-building.
• Broer currently enjoys a 100% success rate with teams and swimmers across the English Channel and Strait of Gibraltar that includes 2 world and 6 national (speed) records.
• Broer coached Channel Team Wassenaar, a team that raised €37,000 in its English Channel EF crossing in 2011.
• Broer coached Dutch Ladies First! to a world female record for E-F-E and F-E English Channel crossings in 2012.
• Broer coached and swam with the first mixed gay, non-gay Dutch swim team with HHZV Plons across the English Channel in 2014.
• Broer coached a breaststroke swimming team for a double IJsselmeer (M-S-M) in 2015.
• Broer coached female winner Délenn van Oostom at the Open Dutch Championships in 2015 in IJsselmeer S-M.
• Broer coached the duo charity swim team called Extreem tegen Kanker ("extremely against cancer") in 2015 in IJsselmeer S-M.
• Broer coached ECSC-one80fit at IJsselmeer S-M in 2015 and observed their qualification to swim the English Channel in 2015.
• Broer is a member of the board of directors of the International Ice Swimming Association.

2012 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year Nomination

The Dutch Ladies First was nominated for the 2012 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year award. Its World Open Water Swimming Association nomination reads,

Swim fast, swim straight. Over and back, flip turn at Cape Gris Nez. Don’t look up, just follow the boat. That is what the Dutch Ladies First set out to do as they traversed the English Channel on their two-way record swim under the guidance of coach Richard Broer. Cognizant of the newly established American ladies record of 18 hours 55 minutes, the sextet under the guidance of Captain Lance Oram on the Sea Satin went for broke. The collective efforts of Margot Stenveld, Desirée Emmen, Janneke Harmsen-Bakker, Jasmijn Ruijgrok, Gemma Middendorp and Linda Hoogendam established a new two-way all-female English Channel record in 18 hours 22 minutes. For their ability to keep up the pace (9:56 on first leg, 8:25 on second leg), for the fastest women’s relay to ever cross the English Channel twice, the two-way swim of Dutch Ladies First is a worthy nominee for the 2012 WOWSA Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year.

Honours

• Broer was selected as an Honour Contributor (Administrator) in the Class of 2016 in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame.
• Broer received the 2016 Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award from the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

External links

• Ice Swimming Is Poised to Get Bigger and Bigger - IISA Restructuring for Growth
• Ice Swimming Is Getting Bigger and Bigger - IISA Restructuring for Growth
• National Honors Awarded to Open Water Swimmers
• International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame Patrons
• Are You Tough? Really Really Tough? Check Out History's Tough Swimming Workouts
• 11 Luminaries Honored In Today's International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
• International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame Virtual Ceremonies, Celebrating the Class of 2021
• 2020 International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame Induction Virtual Ceremonies
• Colin Hill Honored By The International Swimming Hall of Fame
• Richard Broer Talks About Dutch Open Water Swimming On WOWSA Live
• IJsselmeer Zwemmarathon Honored By The Hall Of Fame
• International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame
• Dutch OpenWater Swimming
• European OpenWater Swimming
• International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame
• Honoring The Legacies Of Irving Davids, Roger Wheeler
• International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame
• Marathon Swimming
• Open Water Swimming
• Daily News of Open Water Swimming
• World Open Water Swimming Association
• IJsselmeerbikkels
• Dutch/ Ladies First Break 2-Way English Channel Record
• Open Water Swimming Safety In The Netherlands
• Richard Broer Inducted In Marathon Swimming Hall Of Fame
• Richard Broer Honored Again By The Hall Of Fame
• Richard Broer Joins Ice Swimming Association Board
• He's Baaaaaackkk, Maarten van der Weijden
• Time To Reflect By IMSHOF Chairman Chris Guesdon
• Petar Stoychev, A Possibly Unique Olympic Experience
• Open Water Swimming Dual Inductees And Dual Honorees
• Ice Swimming In The Netherlands
• Imagine This: A World Championship In The Arctic Circle
• Chris Guesdon Honored Again By His Peers