Marcel Schouten

Marcel Schouten, a Dutch professional open water swimmer, secured a gold medal at the 2014 European Championships in Berlin, Germany, competing in the 5 km team pursuit race alongside Ferry Weertman and Sharon van Rouwendaal. This significant achievement followed his earlier success in August 2012 when he set the overall record for the 22 km IJsselmeer zwemmarathon in the Netherlands, completing the challenging distance in 4 hours 18 minutes 1 second. Schouten continued to build his competitive profile, achieving a fifth-place finish in the 25 km marathon swim at the 2016 European Open Water Championships. In 2017, Schouten demonstrated consistent elite performance on the international circuit.

He returned to Lac St-Jean in 2019 to claim victory in the grueling 32 km Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean, finishing with an impressive time of 7 hours 13 minutes. In 2020, Schouten made history at the 36 km Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli, placing third overall as the top male finisher and setting a new men’s record with a time of 6 hours 5 minutes 7 seconds. Most recently, Schouten continued to impress in the FINA UltraMarathon Swim Series, securing a fourth-place finish in the 25 km event in Lake Ohrid in 2021 and emerging as the second-highest point scorer in the series for that year. His formidable skill was also evident in 2022, with a third-place finish in the USA Swimming National Open Water Swimming Championships 5 km race and a ninth-place finish in the 10 km event, underscoring his enduring presence and competitive edge at the highest levels of professional open water swimming.