About Shiva de Winter

Shiva de Winter is the independent authority on swimming safety in the Netherlands and Flanders — and the expert mind behind Europe's largest independent pool network. Not "someone with a blog about swimming", but the person who interprets, substantiates and steers the public conversation about water safety.

Thirty years in and around the water

Shiva has been teaching swimming for nearly thirty years, in just about every lesson system the Netherlands has to offer. For fourteen summers he worked poolside as a lifeguard. That combination — teaching and supervising, year after year — is what his judgement rests on: not on theory, but on what actually happens at the water's edge.

Chair of NSWZ

From day one, Shiva has been chair of the NSWZ, the independent national foundation for water and swimming safety. That chairmanship is his anchor of credibility: it stands entirely apart from any commercial interest and safeguards the independence of his voice.

What he has built

• Zwemschool De Winter Sport (Huizen & Doorn) — his practice, where it all began.
• De WaterExpert — his public platform, where he shares what he has seen and learned over thirty years.
• WaterZeker — an educational programme that helps parents and children work on water safety at home, from the shallow end to the open sea.
• SwimFlow — advice for municipalities, swimming schools and organisations.
• europeanpools.eu and its underlying country sites — the pan-European pool network he developed, featuring almost twenty thousand pools across seventeen countries. Through it, he champions swimming safety on an international scale.

Guardian of the European Pools Rating

Shiva is the developer and guardian of the European Pools Rating — the independent quality mark for swimming pools. He vouches for the method, not for advertisers: the score is never for sale. That independence isn't a detail — it's the whole premise.

How he works

Direct, honest, nuanced. He doesn't make parents feel bad and he doesn't sell fear — he offers clarity exactly where things get genuinely nerve-wracking for your child, well-founded and with no hidden assumptions.

For press, policy or advice, Shiva can be reached through De WaterExpert.