The WOWSA Awards is an annual public recognition of the world’s open water swimmers, escort pilots, coaches, administrators, volunteers, products, services, and events in different categories: 

• World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year
• World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year
• World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year 
• World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year 
• World Open Water Swimming Event of the Year
• World Open Water Swimming Product or Service of the Year 

The World Open Water Swimming Event of the Year nominees include the 15 following events.

1. Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli, a 36 km sea swim in Napoli, Italy
2. Rottnest Channel Swim, a 19.7 km ocean swim in Perth, Western Australia
3. Race For The Conch Eco-SeaSwim, a 0.5-, 1-, 2.4-mile sea swim Grace Bay, Turks & Caicos
4. Strait of Bonifacio, 15-16 km channel crossing between Italy and France
5. Around-Coronado Swim, 18.6 km circumnavigation swim in San Diego, California, USA
6. Asociación Mexicana de Aguas Abiertas, 32 km channel swim between Cozumel and the Maya Riviera in the Gulf of Mexico along the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico
7. Tampa Bay Frogman Swim, 5 km bay swim in Tampa Bay, Florida, USA
8. Perhentian Island Marathon Swim, 16 km circumnavigation swim in Pulau, Perhentian Besar, Malaysia
9. DC Marathon Swim, 33 km swim in the Potomac River in northern Washington D.C.
10. Mediterranean Peace Route, 90 km sea swim from Turkey to Northern Cyprus
11. Authentic Marathon Swim, 800m, 1.5 km, 3 km, 10 km in northern Euboea, Greece
12. Trans Tahoe Relay, 10-mile lake swim in Lake Tahoe, California, USA
13. Wörthersee Swim Austria, 500m, 700m, 1 km, 1.5 km, 3 km, 9 km, 11 km, 17 km in Klagenfurt, Austria
14. Irish Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming, 21 km Fastnet Swim in Ireland + 13 km Galway Bay Swim in Ireland + 35 km North Channel crossing between Northern Ireland and Scotland
15. Olympic 10K Marathon Swim, 10 km in Tokyo Bay, Japan

To learn more and vote, visit here.

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Steven Munatones

Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference.  He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984).  Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.

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