Open water swimmer Ferry Weertman announces his retirement from elite competition
Dutch open water swimmer and Olympic gold medallist Ferry Weertman has announced his retirement from professional swimming. A competitor in the FINA 10k Marathon Swimming World Cup circuit since 2012, Weertman won gold at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in the 10k open water. He was 2017 World Champion and 2015 World silver medalist. His career also saw him claim European 10k open water champion five times.
Weertman was honoured as the 2015 LEN Open Water Swimmer of the Year and recently inducted into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame as an Honour Swimmer in the Class of 2022.
Despite retiring from elite swimming, Weertman isn’t hanging up his goggles quite yet. “I may have quit professional swimming, but I will be swimming for the rest of my life, because I love swimming!” he said in his Instagram post. “People always told me there is more in life than just swimming and I’m very excited to find out.”
Jonathan Cowie
Jonathan is a year-round skins swimmer with a particular love of very cold water. He has competed in ice swimming competitions around the world. He is a qualified open water coach with a particular love of introducing new swimmers to the open water.
