aquanale congress enters the next round

11th International Swimming Pool and Wellness Forum

Name: aquanale
Start: 2025-10-28
End: 2025-10-31
Location: Koelnmesse GmbH

Jakob Færch, LOA Fonden, Denmark

Discussion with the audience at the International Swimming Pool and Wellness Forum

Stefan Studer, Kannewischer Management, Swiss

The International Swimming Pool and Wellness Forum at aquanale

The International Swimming Pool and Wellness Forum (ISWF) is taking place for the eleventh time as part of aquanale - and will once again be the central meeting point for all interested trade visitors.

In Hall 7.1, participants can look forward to a high-quality, practical specialist programme that will impress with its thematic diversity and depth of content. The ISWF offers exciting content for both the public and private swimming pool market. For example, energy monitoring, user-dependent building control and decarbonisation, electrical installations in swimming pools and the first climate-neutral natural pool will be discussed. In addition, Belgium, this year's partner country of the trade fair, will provide valuable insights into the Belgian pool market. And on Tuesday evening, things will get international: the IOC IAKS Architecture Prize 2025 will be presented live.

The event is organised the German Association for Swimming Pools and Wellness  (bsw) in close cooperation with the International Association for Sports and Leisure Facilities (IAKS) and the Federal Association of German Swimming Pool Attendants (BDS). Together with the International Academy for Pool, Sports and Leisure Constructions in Germany (IAB) and the German Society for Natural Bathing Waters (DGfnB), a programme is being created that will provide important impetus for the further development of the swimming pool and wellness industry.

Thanks to numerous sponsors, participation is free of charge for all trade fair visitors. The organisers and speakers are looking forward to welcoming many participants, including swimming pool builders, public pool operators, sauna operators, hoteliers, architects, planners, swimming pool employees and all other interested parties.

#bettertogether: Strong synergies thanks to the trade fair duo

As a joint project of the conceptual sponsors of both trade fairs - the bsw (aquanale) and the IAKS (FSB) - the ISWF impressively illustrates the practical realisation of the trade fair duo. It exemplifies what we understand by the motto #bettertogether: a platform that utilises synergies, pools expertise and combines the strengths of both leading trade fairs.

Programme (subject to change)

Tuesday, 28 October 2025

Time

Subject

11:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.

Chlorine gas training
NN

1:00 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.

Latest news on pay scale policy: Verdi and the aquatic industry

Presentation followed by a panel discussion

Ralf Nix, Federal Head of the Environment, Green Spaces, Crafts and Commercial Services
Group, Verdi

2:00 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.

Reforming the job description ‘Specialist employee for swimming pool operations’

Maximilian Faber, city councillor of the municipality of Friedrichsdorf, Head of Sports Facilities
and Swimming Pools, Executive Board member of LV Hessen Bundesverband Deutscher
Schwimmmeister e.V.

3:00 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.

DIN 19643: Current status of swimming and bathing pool water treatment

Thomas Beutel, expert in swimming pool technology and dosing plant engineering, Lutz-Jesco

4:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.

Marketing for pool builders: Greater digital visibility

Ben Treffer, sales & marketing expert, Poolbau-Marketing
Fabian Vogel, Management & Business Development, Poolbau-Marketing

5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Every Child a Swimmer: How to get as many children as possible to learn to swim

Bill Kent, Chairman, International Swimming Hall of Fame

Wednesday, 29 October 2025

Time

Subject

11:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.

New findings from an engineering perspective
Host: NN

Experience with ceramic filter systems
Tom Devin, founder & Director, DevinConsulting

Carbon-free pools with geothermal probes
Andreas Debus, Managing Director, Kannewischer Ingenieurgesellschaft

Pool out of the box: A modular swimming pool with three locations
NN

12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m.

Sustainability and decarbonisation of public pools

Panel discussion on energy monitoring, user-dependent building control
and decarbonisation

1:00 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.

IOC IAKS Architecture Prize 2025

Presentation of award-winning swimming pools

2:00 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.

Planning criteria for energy-efficient swimming pools

Frank Eisele, expert in swimming pool and wellness technology and building services
for indoor swimming pools, WWS Eisele
Ullrich Staib, Managing Director, SHS Schmierer - Swimming Pools + Wellness
Alexander Ziegler, Managing Director, ISO

3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Electrical installations in swimming pools

Frank Eisele, expert in swimming pool and wellness technology and building services
for swimming pools, WWS Eisele
Fritz Schindler, expert in electrical engineering

4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Swiss swimming pool market

Insights into the Swiss swimming pool market with a focus on challenges
and innovations in the training of swimming pool experts

Peter Rust, President of the Training Commission, aqua suisse
Yves Burgener, Executive Board member, aqua suisse

Followed by aperitif

Thursday, 30 October 2025

Time

Subject

10:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.

Caffè Italia – Italian pool and wellness market – trends, topics and perspectives

Dott. Maurizio Gorato, Vice President of Assopiscine
Giacomo Rossetto, Executive Board member, Assopiscine

Followed by discussion over drinks and snacks at the bsw stand next to the ISWF area

11:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Controlled treatment of pool water, taking the example of Grone outdoor nature pool

Michael Messner, Press Officer, Deutsche Gesellschaft für naturnahe Badegewässer e.V.

11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

The tub is empty! Or: What do we do when we run out of pool water?
Proposed solutions for climate-resilient pool water

Michael Messner, Press Officer, Deutsche Gesellschaft für naturnahe Badegewässer e.V.

12:00 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.

The first climate-neutral outdoor nature pool in Winsen/Luhe –
concept, implementation and initial practical experience

NN, Polyplan-Kreikenbaum Group

1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Initial and continuous further training in the swimming sector

Thomas Schwarz, head of advanced training, lecturer,
Federal Technical College of the Federal Association of German Swimming Instructors

2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Building for exercise – technology meets water

Host: Dieter Vatheuer, Managing Partner, Prova Unternehmensberatung

Welcome address
Jürgen Kannewischer, Präsident der Internationalen Akademie für Bäder-, Sport-
und Freizeitbauten in Deutschland e.V.

Cost reductions in swimming pool construction by lowering the standards
demanded in the regulations
Christoph Keinemann, owner, GSF - Planning Company for Sports and Leisure Facilities

Ventilation – current situation
Bernd Pietsch, Managing Partner, Wolff & Partner

POS systems
Thomas Gutjahr, Managing Director, entervo-access

3:45 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.:

Energy-efficient fitting of indoor swimming pools

Joachim Hopp, owner, pool architect

4:30 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.:

Belgium Special: the partner country introduces itself

Belgische Federatie van Zwembad- en Wellnessprofessionals Fédération Belge
des Professionnels de la Piscine et du Bien-Être

The Belgian swimming pool and wellness market
Joeri Dils, Managing Director, T&A

The Belgian Federation of Swimming Pool and Wellness Professionals:
In the service of the industry
N.N.

Presentation of the swimming pool awards ‘Belgian Excellence for aquanale’
Followed by Belgian reception

Friday, 31 October 2025

Time

Subject

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 a.m.

Chlorine gas training

NN

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Using proficiency badges to inspire children and young people to swim

Dr. Uwe Hoffmann, President of the Association of German Recreational Divers