Rotterdam – Last Monday, Erik van Loon, founder of the Rotterdam Swim, received a call from Joan Nunnely, party leader of D66 Rotterdam. The conversation concerned the future of the Rotterdam Swim, which should celebrate its 19th edition this year. Although all relevant services — including the Seaport Police, Fire Brigade, GGD and Port of Rotterdam — have granted permission for the event, Europe’s oldest city swim has been structurally blocked by Rotterdam Festivals since the 15‑year anniversary edition of the Rotterdam Swim in 2022. According to Van Loon, this is being done in favor of a civil‑service‑organized event that strongly resembles his original Rotterdam Swim: the Rotterdam City Swim. He argues that the Municipality of Rotterdam is thereby “normalizing plagiarism and theft.”
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Rotterdam Swim vs. Rotterdam City Swim
The Rotterdam Swim was founded in 2008 by Erik van Loon and has raised money since then for the annual United Nations World Water Day and the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The Rotterdam City Swim — formerly the 010 Swim Experience — is a swim event in the Wijnhaven. In 2024, the organization renamed it “Rotterdam City Swim” shortly before the event, which Van Loon says was done to avoid legal action.
Municipality of Rotterdam normalizes theft and plagiarism
Van Loon states that the Municipality of Rotterdam, through this approach, makes theft and plagiarism:
- Blurred — because the boundary between “mine” and “someone else’s” becomes unclear.
- Normal — because stealing is no longer seen as objectionable.
- Without consequences — encouraging others to do the same.
- Accepted — because plagiarism is tolerated or excused.
D66: promise of support, then a ban
On Monday, 19 January, Joan Nunnely spoke extensively with Van Loon and said she intended to strongly advocate for the Rotterdam Swim during the council debate on 20 January.
Nunnely and Van Loon have known each other for years.
because Van Loon had spoken several times in various committees and meetings, and because Joan Nunnely had certainly spoken with him dozens of times or had been emailed by him or the faction.
But on January 21, she wrote that the civil‑service edition could go ahead and that the Rotterdam Swim was once again prohibited.
Misled
According to Van Loon, Nunnely was misinformed by civil servants. For example, he was wrongly accused of submitting an application for 1,000 participants, even though the Rotterdam Swim has been limited to a maximum of 30 participants for years. It was also falsely claimed that Van Loon wanted to change the route, even though everyone knows that we have been swimming around the Noordereiland for nearly two decades and I was not suddenly planning to turn it into a square or triangle.
New debate
Van Loon asked Nunnely to schedule the debate again, but she did not agree. Below you can read why Joan Nunnely simply accepted the lies and why we will continue the conversation soon.
See response from Joan Nunnely
Earlier attempts by the Municipality of Rotterdam in cooperation with Erasmus University Rotterdam
According to Van Loon, the Municipality of Rotterdam has made several attempts over the past 19 years to copy the Rotterdam Swim, including in cooperation with Erasmus University Rotterdam. For example, in 2012 and 2013 we swam for Fight Cancer because Erik van Loon’s mother was battling cancer during those years. See also the Fight Cancer logo on the anniversary posters below: 5 years Rotterdam Swim (2012) and 5 years Amsterdam Swim (2013). The following year, the Municipality of Rotterdam and Erasmus University distributed a poster for a swim event at the Willem‑Alexander Rowing Course. By using the Erasmus Bridge and surrounding buildings, the poster created the impression that this was the Rotterdam Swim around the Noordereiland.
