Gay Swim Amsterdam celebrates 25th anniversary: ”I thought an ordinary club was boring”
Whether at the Gay Games or during the weekday training sessions: everyone has been welcome at Gay Swim Amsterdam for 25 years. Cause for a party. And of course Dia, a member from the very beginning, is always with you.
“I also have a normal club variation,” says Dia Huizinga. “But I thought that was boring.” When she saw an appeal for interested members for a swimming club for gays and lesbians, she did not hesitate. “The idea came from Bob van Schijndel, the activist behind the Homomonument, for example. When he went to the Gay Games in New York, he only saw one Dutch swimmer.” Too little, in the opinion of Van Schijndel, and after a notice in the newspaper, the first training session took place in 1995. Two years later, January 23, 1997, Gay Swim Amsterdam (GSA) is officially founded.
Gay Games
That is just in time for the Gay Games, died in 1998 in Amsterdam. Still a highlight of Dia’s swimming career. “That opening ceremony, in a full Amsterdam ArenA – that was beautiful.” All participants received a card to travel with public transport for free. “When you get on a tram, everyone has such a card. That was so special – normally we are always in the minority.” Also not unimportant: GSA wins 43 medals.
Today it just started in the spring. “Although I don’t swim that fast. But then I was in a very fast relay team, for example.”
anniversary
GSA needs it on the program for its 25th anniversary, if things are shifted due to corona. At the end of April, members competed against each other in a club competition. In August is GSA Love Swim, which includes outdoor swimming, and in November there is a conference.
Beautiful of course, but in the end it’s all about swimming. “We train four times a week,” says club icon Dia. The training sessions take place twice a week in the Sloterparkbad, and twice in the Marnixbad. And if it’s up to her, she’ll keep doing it. At the 40th anniversary, in 2037, she hopes to still be there. “Then I’m still healthy. Because of all that swimming, of course.”
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