Aloo Wins WOWSA Award: 2021 World Open Water Swimming Product or Service of the Year
Aloo joins Paul Georgescu of Romania (World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year), Kate Steels of Great Britain (World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year), Avram Iancu of Romania (World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year), and Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli of Italy (World Open Water Swimming Event of the Year), as the 2021 WOWSA Awards winners.
Aloo is an inspirational documentary film by director Gerardo Flores Ruiz about the unlikely Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming journey of Mexican open water swimmer Rene Martínez Saenz. The film was voted as the 2021 World Open Water Swimming Product or Service of the Year Award.
The winners and nominees of the 2021 World Open Water Swimming Product or Service of the Year Award included:
Winner: Aloo of Mexico
First Runner-up: La Morada Club of Argentina
Second Runner-up: Oceans Seven: How I Cheated Death And Broke The Hardest Record In Swimming
4. Radikal Swim Club of Spain
5. We Swim Wild of Great Britain
6. Hammer Head Swim Caps of USA
7. Safe Sea of Israel
8. Against The Current of USA
9. Ask Me Why I’m Stood Here: A Bristol Channel Swim Tale of Great Britain
10. Ocean Walker Academy & Wellbeing Centre of Great Britain
11. Bruckner Chase Ocean Positive of USA
12. Maarten van der Weijden Foundation of the Netherlands
13. Freedom Swimmer of China-Hong Kong
14. Amphibia Dry-Mat of Ireland
15. The Swim Reaper of New Zealand
16. Open Water Swim Traverse of Lebanon
17. Goa Open Water Swimming Club of India
The past winners of the Product, Service or Offering of the Year have included:
- 2021: Aloo by Gerardo Flores Ruiz featuring Rene Martínez Saenz of Mexico
- 2020: Kosatka DV by Oleg Dokuchaev of Russia
- 2019: Travesía Interminable, a book by Antonio Argüelles of Mexico and Adam Skolnick of the USA
- 2018: Icebears Hintertux by Josef Köberl of Austria
- 2017: Sea Donkey, a film by James Harrison with Adrian Sarchet of Guernsey
- 2016: Samsung Bosphorus Cross-Continental Swim from Asia to Europe in Turkey
- 2015: World Ice Swimming Championships in Murmansk, Russia by the International Ice Swimming Association
- 2014: Step Out Of The Ordinary Blue Letter Campaign by Pádraig Mallon and Camlough Lake Water Festival of Ireland
- 2013: International Ice Swimming Association, the governing body for ice swimming founded by Ram Barkai of South Africa
- 2012: SWIM Channel, a Portuguese-language magazine produced by Patrick Winkler of Brazil
The video of the 2021 WOWSA Awards above where Martínez gives his acceptance speech, along with the other WOWSA Awards winners, features “Heroes and Dreamers”, a song by Pinkzebra. Its lyrics are poignant to the achievements of the winners, nominees and many open water swimmers around the world:
We control our fate
Destiny awaits
We are all the actors in the stories we create
Hope will be our guide
We’ll no longer hide
When we roar like thunder
Feel the wonder from inside
We are heroes and dreamers
We are restless believers
Stronger than ever
Never say never
Don’t look back now
Don’t look back now
Rise up
Stand with each other
We are sisters and brothers
Finding our place and
Running the race
We’ll take our chance and seize the moment
Hold on tight
And don’t let go and
All your hopes and dreams that light the way
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