{"id":652463,"date":"2026-08-24T05:05:40","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T12:05:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=652463"},"modified":"2026-08-24T06:58:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T13:58:29","slug":"three-time-open-water-world-champion-leonie-beck-announces-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/three-time-open-water-world-champion-leonie-beck-announces-retirement\/","title":{"rendered":"Three-Time Open Water World Champion Leonie Beck Announces Retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leonie Beck<\/strong> has retired from open water swimming after a career in which she won world and European titles.<\/p>\n

The German competed at three Olympics across pool and marathon swimming with fifth in the open water at the Tokyo Olympics the closest she came to the podium.<\/p>\n

The 29-year-old posted her announcement on social media, saying: \u201cSwimming may no longer be my profession, but water and sport will always be part of who I am. And the next chapter has already begun. \ud83e\udd0d<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for everything. And stay tuned. Leonie\u2764\ufe0f\u201d<\/p>\n

Beck took a break from the water after Paris 2024 where she finished ninth in the River Seine<\/strong> eight weeks after winning 5\/10k gold at the European Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.<\/p>\n

She told Blickpunkt Sport – a TV show on Bayerischer Rundfunk – “I’m doing so well, I’m having so much fun doing what I’m doing now. I went to a thousand events and also got into the media. And that’s why I’ve now decided that I want to continue in this direction and not return to competitive sport.”<\/p>\n

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