Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.
The WOWSA Awards includes the categories of the World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year, World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year, the World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year, and the World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year.
The WOWSA Awards winners are selected by the public in an online poll where one vote is allowed by one computer/one person.
In 2017, Antonio Argüelles of Mexico was the Man of the Year, Jaimie Monahan of the USA was the Woman of the Year, Margarita ‘Tita] Llorens Bagur of Spain [shown above] won the Performance of the Year, and Sea Donkey, a film by James Harrison about Adrian Sarchet of Guernsey won the Offering of the Year. The four WOWSA Award winners will be honored at the Open Water Summit and WOWSA Awards at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, California on November 10th.
Four countries, four winners.
This scope of excellence represents the globalization of the sport of open water swimming. The 2018 WOWSA Awards nominees similarly represents all corners of the globe with individuals from Poland, Czech Republic, Brazil, Italy, USA, Ireland, Russia, Netherlands, Japan, France, South Africa, Canary Islands, Republic of Moldava, Spain, Hungary, Great Britain, India, Slovakia, Australia, Belarus, Hong Kong, Germany, Turkey, Bangladesh, Switzerland, Tunisia, Mexico, and Hawaii being honored and recognized for their open water swimming feats, accomplishments and heroics.
2018 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year Nominees:
1. Aleksandra Bednarek (Poland)
2. Abhejali Bernardová (Czech Republic)
3. Ana Marcela Cunha (Brazil)
4. Barbara Pozzobon (Italy)
5. Caroline Block, Ph.D. (USA)
6. Eilís Burns (Ireland)
7. Hania Bakuniak (Poland)
8. Jaimie Monahan (USA)
9. Nadezhda Dudina (Russia)
10. Oksana Beletskaya (Russia)
11. Paula Selby (USA)
12. Pat Gallant-Charette (USA)
13. Rondi Davies, Ph.D. (USA)
14. Sharon van Rouwendaal (Netherlands)
15. Teruko Onuki (Japan)
2018 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year Nominees:
1. Benoît Lecomte (France/USA)
2. Cameron Bellamy (South Africa)
3. Diego López Dominguez (Canary Islands)
4. Ferry Weertman (Netherlands)
5. Igor Lukin (Russia)
6. Ion Lazarenco Tiron (Republic of Moldava)
7. John Batchelder (USA)
8. José Luis Larrosa Chorro (Spain)
9. Kristóf Rasovszky (Hungary)
10. Lewis Pugh (Great Britain/South Africa)
11. Maarten van der Weijden (Netherlands)
12. Ned Denison (Ireland/USA)
13. Rohan More (India)
14. Vladimir Mravec (Slovakia/Australia)
15. Yaroslav Pronin (Belarus)
2018 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year Nominees:
1. Catalina Channel Crossing (USA) by Hank Wise
2. Century Swim around Key West (USA) by Bill Welzien
3. Great British Swim (UK) by Ross Edgley
4. HK360Swim Around Hong Kong Island (Hong Kong) by Simon Holliday
5. Ice Kilometer (Netherlands) by Sven Elfferich
6. Double Ice Mile (Germany) by Hamza Bakircioglu
7. Kangsha River Swim (Bangladesh) by Kshitindra Chandra Baisya
8. Lake Zürich Two-Way Crossing (Switzerland) by Katrin Walter
9. Santa Barbara Channel Crossing (USA) by Jim McConica
10. Sfax to Djerba Marathon Swim (Tunisia) by Nejib Belhedi
11. Traversée Internationale du lac St-Jean (Canada) by Edoardo Stochino
12. Travessia do Leme ao Pontal (Brazil) by Glauco Luise de Oliveira Rangel
13. Triple Country Swim (Italy-Monaco-France) by Carina Bruwer
14. Tsugaru Channel Tandem Crossing (Japan) by Nora Toledano Cadena and Mariel Hawley Dávila
15. Two-way Santa Cruz Island Crossing (USA) by Ken Mignosa
2018 World Open Water Offering of the Year Nominees:
1. A History of Marathon Swimming (USA) by Joe Grossman & Steve Walker
2. AKUA Kelp Jerky (USA) by Courtney Boyd Myers
3. Asociación de Cruce a Nado del Río de la Plata (Argentina) by Lucas Rivet
4. ENERGYbits® (USA) by Catharine Arnston
5. Icebears Hintertux (Austria) by Josef Köberl
6. International Ice Swimming Association World Cup Series by Ram Barkai
7. Marathon Swimming: The Sport of the Soul (USA) by Paul Asmuth
8. Maelstrom Seven by Wild Swimming Brothers
9. Ontberingen van een marathonzwemster / Hardships Of A Marathonswimmer (Netherlands) by Monique Blok-Wildschut
10. Patagonia Swim (Chile) by Cristian Vergara and Julieta Núñez Gundlach
11. St. Lucia Channel Swim (St. Lucia & Martinique) by Sue Dyson & Nathaniel Waring
12. Tahiti Swimming Experience (Tahiti) by Stéphane Debaere & Tahitian Swimming Federation
13. Take Your Dream (Australia) by Eric, Hunter and Tuck Helmick
14. TOWER 26 (USA) by Gerry Rodrigues
15. Waikiki Roughwater Swim DIY Swim Certificate (Hawaii) by Michael Rök & Jim Cotton
To vote for the WOWSA Awards, visit here.
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