Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

Antonio (Toño) Argüelles Díaz-González was honored as the 2015 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year.

The honor comes right after the Mexican endurance athlete was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame.

Not only was the 56-year-old business owner and educator active on dryland in his native Mexico, but he was also relentless in the open water, both as an athlete and ambassador, in his pursuit of the Oceans Seven .

With 2 English Channel swims and 2 Catalina Channel swims under his cap, he knocked off the Strait of Gibraltar in 4 hours 23 minutes and the Tsugaru Channel in 12 hours 38 minutes this year.

His Oceans Seven plans are set for the Molokai Channel, Cook Strait and North Channel while he balances all kinds of corporate, governmental and philanthropic activities. He spends time inspiring an entire generations of Mexican swimmers of all ages through books, talks and his own indomitable spirit and palpable joy while in the water.

With his year-long performance as he balanced responsibilities both in and out of the water, Argüelles exemplifies exactly what a World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year does. He not only embodies the spirit of open water swimming and possesses the sense of adventure, tenacity and perseverance that open water swimmers are known for, but he also very positively influenced the world of open water swimming and everyone he touched with his swims and personality.

The final 2015 WOWSA Award voting results:

1. Antonio Argüelles (Mexico): 13,204 votes
2. Christof Wandratsch (Germany): 5,043 votes
3. Ingemar Patiño Macarine (Philippines) 4,273 votes
4. Rohans More (India): 3,836 votes
5. James Tout (U.S.A.): 3,272 votes
6. Evgenij Pop Acev (Macedonia): 439 votes
7. Simone Ruffini (Italy): 360 votes
8. Lewis Pugh, OIG (Great Britain): 183 votes
9. Rostislav Vítek (Czech Republic): 139 votes
10. Attila Mányoki (Hungary): 107 votes
11. Benoît Lecomte (France/U.S.A.): 79 votes
12. Ben Hooper (Great Britain): 44 votes

Total number of votes: 30,979



Argüelles joins the previous World Open Water Swimming Men of the Year:

* 2008 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year: Randy Nutt of the USA
* 2009 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year: Petar Stoychev of Bulgaria
* 2010 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year: Marcos Diaz of the Dominican Republic
* 2011 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year: Jamie Patrick of the USA
* 2012 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year: Stephen Redmond of Ireland
* 2013 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year: Pádraig Mallon of Ireland
* 2014 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year: Henri Kaarma of Estonia
* 2015 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year: Antonio Argüelles

The 2015 WOWSA Awards included:

* World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year: Bridgette Hobart Janeczko of the U.S.A.
* World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year: Antonio Argüelles Díaz-González of Mexico
* World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year: Andrea Fazio of Italy
* World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year: World Ice Swimming Championships in Murmansk, Russia

The 2015 WOWSA Awards recipients will be honored at the Big Chill Swim International Winter Swimming World Cup on February 5th 2016 at the Low Wood Bay Resort Hotel and Marina in the Lake District’s Windermere, England. Hosted by Chillswim and Colin Hill, the 2014 and 2015 recipients will be presented their awards by Lewis Pugh, United Nations Patron of the Oceans.

The 2014 WOWSA Award recipients include Estonia’s Henri Kaarma as World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year, Russia’s Dr. Nataliya Fatyanova as World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year, Russia’s Alexandr Brylin and Grigorii Prokopchuk as World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year, and Ireland’s Step Out Of The Ordinary Blue Letter Campaign as World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year). The World Open Water Swimming Awards tickets are available here.

Copyright © 2015 by World Open Water Swimming Association