Dear friends and fans of swimming sports, Welcome to the event page of “Essener Sparkassen Challenge 2014”. We, the Swim Team Essen, are happy to host this event at the Aquatics Centre Essen – Ruettenscheid. In this event we offer the German national swim team the opportunity to achieve the second part of the qualification for the European Championships at home in Berlin and to secure the final step for participating in the international highlight of this year.

Once again, the entire German swimming elite will compete in Essen and we can look forward to high-class swimming and exciting races.

The program of “Essener Sparkassen Challenge” offers every swimmer, from the youngest to the competitive ones, the opportunity to participate. We would be delighted to welcome a high number of swimmers. It will surely be a great experience to be there when all of Germany’s top swimmers are competing.

The last test before the European Championships is also taken by the German Paralympics national swim team in Essen. An innovation may be that the Paralympics - competitions are not held separately but are included in the program of “Essener Sparkassen Challenge”. We are sure that this program will be bracing for the event and that all parties are contented with it.

We are also warmly welcoming a powerful group from Portland / USA. Since 1999 a team of young swimmers from the German Swimming Federation takes part in a competition in Portland at the end of each year. Now this is the first return visit to Germany.

We thank our sponsors, especially “Sparkasse Essen” and Speedo Germany for supporting this swimming festival, without which it would not be possible to host such an event.

The staff of “Sport- und Bäderbetriebe Essen” has once again pledged their active support to us. We are sure, that the conditions in the Aquatics Centre Essen – Ruettenscheid will be appropriate for an event of such importance.

A four-day event also requires the commitment of many voluntary judges and assistants, for which we thank all of them very dearly at this point.
Together we will do everything to assure that the “Essener Sparkassen Challenge 2014” will remain in good memory of all participants and spectators.

Bernhard Gemlau

Chairman of SG Essen