Sea Donkey, 2017 World Open Water Offering of the Year
Courtesy of James Harrison, Guernsey.
The WOWSA Awards are an annual selection of outstanding individuals and offerings in the following categories: World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year, Woman of the Year, Performance of the Year, and Offering of the Year.
The WOWSA Awards are selected by the public in an online poll.
With all kinds of new and varied products, events and services on the global open water swimming market for 2017, the possible award winners and nominees are numerous.
Among the many highly worthy possibilities around the globe, 12 were nominated:
1. 48 Braçades by Miquel Suñer (Spain)
2. Blue Journey Dangerous Waves Project with Bruckner Chase (USA)
3. Global Swim Series by Rob Kent & Dylan Kent (Canada)
4. LongSwimsDB by Evan Morrison (USA)
5. New York Open Water by David Barra, Rondi Davies & Alex Arévalo (USA)
6. Open Water Swim Academy by Dan Simonelli (USA)
7. Outdoor Swimmer by Simon Griffiths (Great Britain)
8. Sea Donkey by James Harrison about Adrian Sarchet (Guernsey)
9. Shark Bait by Dr. Seán O’Connell (Bermuda)
10. Swim Argentina by Matías Ola (Argentina)
11. The Channel of Bones with Toni Enderli (South Africa)
12. Travessia do Leme ao Pontal by Adherbal de Oliveira & Renato Ribeiro Barbosa (Brazil)
The WOWSA Awards criteria to select a winner is based on an offering that best supports and assists open water swimmers achieve their goals, are innovative, unique and beneficial to open water swimmers, race directors, coaches or administrators, and made the most positive impact on the world of open water swimming during the calendar year.
Sea Donkey by filmmaker James Harrison about Adrian Sarchet from Guernsey was voted as the 2017 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year.
“Sea Donkey tells the dramatic and touching story of Adrian Sarchet and his adventure – an inspirational battle – across the North Channel, summed up Steven Munatones.
“The documentary, directed by James Harrison, celebrates the depth of the human spirit of an ordinary man, an advocate from Guernsey, who took to the open water with a passionate desire after more than a decade of lawyering. As he closing in on becoming one of the few people who have completed the Oceans Seven, Sarchet is now far beyond the poor health he had previously existed with. Sarchet transformed himself from a law-obsessed professional to a broad-minded adventurer. Through riveting interviews with the protagonist, pilot and crew amid beautiful imagery between Northern Ireland and Scotland, Sarchet’s personal journey is an improbable, mind-bending and astonishing path to becoming one of the world’s most adventurous extreme athletes.
For its inspirational message that the documentary delivers, for showcasing the unlikely transformation of an advocate to a risk-taking channel swimmer, for sharing the challenges and joy so prevalent in the sport of open water swimming, Sea Donkey is thoroughly enjoyable and well-worth watching.”
Sea Donkey joins the following past winners of the World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year:
* 2012: SWIM Channel by Patrick Wrinkler (Brazil)
* 2013: International Ice Swimming Association by Ram Barkai (South Africa)
* 2014: Step Out Of The Ordinary Blue Letter Campaign by Pádraig Mallon and Camlough Lake Water Festival (Ireland)
* 2015: World Ice Swimming Championships in Murmansk, Russia by the International Ice Swimming Association
* 2016: Samsung Bosphorus Cross-Continental Swim (Turkey)
* 2017: Sea Donkey by James Harrison about Adrian Sarchet of Guernsey
Sea Donkey from Sea Donkey Productions on Vimeo in Guernsey.
For more information or to rent or purchase the film, visit the Sea Donkey website or its Facebook page. Use the promotional code “oceans-seven” for a 10% discount on both rent and download purchases from Vimeo.
For the 2017 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year Award, see here.
For the 2017 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year Award, see here.
For the 2017 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year Award, see here.
DVD artwork courtesy of Alex Digard.
Copyright © 2008-2018 by World Open Water Swimming Association
