They are among the founding fathers of the EUSA, the European Swimming Pool Association and it now looks as though they will soon be laying the cornerstone of a worldwide pool association. 

This is not so far-fetched if you look at what the Vice-President of the Association for Swimming Pools and Spas e.V. (bsw) and retired EUSA President Bert Granderath and bsw Managing Director Dieter C. Rangol have achieved in the last few years and have got off the ground together with colleagues from Europe and overseas.

Since the world is increasingly shrinking and the swimming pool and wellness market is becoming more global, the idea was conceived of bringing together the associations of the pool world at aquanale. 

EUROSPAPOOLNEWS (ESPN) has interviewed Bert Granderath and Dieter C. Rangol about the international meeting and has summarised the main facts.

All are welcome:
The world meeting is open to all swimming pool associations. In the preliminary stages, contact partners from the following 23 countries were sought and they received personal invitations: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, France, Greece, Great Britain, Italy, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Austria, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, South Africa, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Hungary and the USA.

Together with Bert Granderath and Dieter C. Rangol, the hosts are Marcelo Mesquita from the Brazilian association ANAPP, Rich Gottwald from the American association APSP, Chris Hayes from the British association BSPF and Andreas Petridis, the current President of the European Swimming Pool Association, EUSA.

Quality:
Improving quality in the industry and making it safer - these are two themes that underlie the world meeting. Similarly, one of the aims is to attempt to set up an exchange to provide opportunities for training and continuing professional development in the industry, market data and new technologies.
Union:
The association that they intend to found after the meeting in Cologne does not have to have strict rules. The hosts stress that creating a framework that invites lively dialogue and facilitates active participation is more important than structure.
Adjusting standards:
Cross-border trade can be simplified, if standards are aligned. What technical regulations apply where? What advantages, disadvantages and challenges do the individual standards involve? These are questions that need answering before common regulations can be considered in the next step.
Networking:
The intention is to reinforce existing contacts and create new networks. How do markets in other countries confront this? What opportunities are there and for which product groups? To what extent are international cooperation projects of interest? A major element in bringing together the pool world is getting to know specialists in different markets and exchanging views with them.    
Attention please:
Beautiful pools, exceptional wellness facilities, creative sports facilities - our industry produces plenty of presentable objects. It is all the more important that they become visible. Therefore the intention is to use the swimming pool associations’ world meeting to discuss common PR and marketing strategies. Will aquanale 2019 perhaps present the first World Pool Award?
Lobbying:
Building a common structure, in order to be heard in international political and government circles, is a further idea that will be discussed at the world meeting.
Expert knowledge:
Based on the slogan "everyone knows something that the other person does not know", the desire is to concentrate expert knowledge and create a pool of specialist information, from which all the associations and all member companies will be able to benefit.

ESPN wishes the participants success in their discussions, which will take place in the Kongresszentrum Nord on 8th November from 10.30 a.m.

To be discovered at aquanale in Cologne