Podium appearance for Olympic Champion
Andy Slater- 2 months ago
Interbad is undertaking its 30th edition with a 2024 Olympic Champion appearance and the 70th Congress by the German Association for the Recreational and Medicinal Bath Industry will have an inaugural International Session in English.
During the final day of interbad, running this week from Tuesday, October 22, to Thursday, October 24, there will be a special guest visit by German swimmer Lukas Märtens, pictured. As part of his schedule, Lukas is participating in a podium discussion entitled ‘Behind the scenes of the 2024 Olympic Games’; which is due to commence at 11:30am in the L-Bank Forum (Hall 1), Innovation Centre.
Lukas, who won his first ever Olympic Gold Medal for Germany this year by finishing ahead of Australia’s Elijah Winnington in the 400m freestyle event in Paris to add to a 2022 European Championships Gold Medal in the 400m freestyle in Rome, will be joining the ranks of two other prominent Olympic Champions who have appeared at interbad. First to attend, in 2022, was former West German swimmer Dr Michael Gross, who was a 1984 and 1988 Olympic Champion with Gold Medals in the freestyle and butterfly events.
Ahead of the visit by Lukas, the opening ceremony of interbad tomorrow will be attended by German Olympic Champion, World Champion, European Champion, and Hall of Fame Swimmer Britta Steffen who won Gold Medals in the 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle events at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, despite not being considered as a favourite for golden glory. Britta has also won multiple European Championship Gold Medals, including a trio of Gold Medals at the 2012 European Championships in Debrecen, as well as being a winner of the 100m freestyle event at the 2012 World Championships in Istanbul.
Germany will be hosting the Olympic Games in 2040 and German Association for the Recreational and Medicinal Bath Industry (DGfdB) President Christian Mankel is seeking to gain an insight from Lukas into how pool quality and sports facilities can impact on performance during his podium discussion at interbad.
“Paris 2024 and the swimming competitions in the La Défense Arena revealed a large number of interesting observations and findings, which I will discuss with Lukas Märtens as one of the superb athletes of the Games,” revealed Christian.
“What is the relation between the conditions of sports facilities such as pool quality and athletic performance? How important is the competitive sport in Germany, away from professional football, and where within the existing structures is it necessary to modernise and de-bureaucratise so that more top results like that of Lukas Märtens in the swimming pool or Malaika Mihambo in the track and field events are possible at the planned 2040 Summer Olympic Games in Germany?
“These and other fascinating questions will be discussed on the podium to conclude the final day of the trade fair with a real highlight.”
Ahead of the trade fair focus, the DGfdB and Messe Stuttgart have revealed that the 70th anniversary Congress; running within the interbad framework; will have a ‘Smart and Sustainable’ theme. During the milestone Congress event there will be a variety of presentations, workshops and discussion panels on current topics and trends in the industry.
Along with the first International Session in English, organisers have revealed that the Sauna Incentives is set to represent a valuable addition to the Congress programme on the final day. There will be parallel talks and workshops addressing current sauna trends and latest developments, within a theme structure for this year’s event that is entitled ‘Quality Management in the Sauna – Success Factor for Operators and Added Value for Guests’.
“We are really looking forward to the upcoming 70th DGfdB Congress, which will coincide with the 30th interbad 2024 in Stuttgart,” divulged Christian Mankel.
Joining their German exhibitor counterparts during interbad will be ITS Europe from the UK, along with Wellis from Hungary, and Passion Spas from Holland; LaMotte Europe will also be demonstrating the WaterLink SpinTouch system that has been designed to reveal immediate results for hot tub and pool water testing,
The analysis system can complete a full suite of water tests, from a single water sample, in under two minutes. It can be utilised to accurately test free chlorine, total chlorine, alkalinity, pH, phosphate, salt, nitrate, and calcium hardness.
www.messe-stuttgart.de/interbad/en
