Ous Mellouli Wins Swammy Award For Open Water
3-time Olympic medalist Ous Mellouli of Tunisia won the 2012 Swammy Award for Open Water Swimmer of the Year. SwimSwam‘s award categories include: Person of the Year, USA Club Team of the Year, Open Water Swimmer of the Year, Performance of the Year, Viral Video of the Year, Record Breaking Performance of the Year, Age Group Swimmers of the Year, Clutch Swim of the Year, Financial Visionary of the Year, Australian Club/Coach of the Year, Industry Impact of the Year, and European Club/Coach of the Year.
The Swammy Award to Mellouli is a well-deserved honor for doubling up in the 1500m and 10 km marathon swim at the 2012 London Olympic Games. Mellouli also won the 2012 Swimming World Magazine Male Open Water Swimmer of the Year award and is a nominee for the 2012 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year and is up for consideration for FINA’s Best Male Open Water Swimmer of the Year award.
Mellouli’s incredible road to Olympic gold in London is told by his own words here.
His WOWSA nomination reads, “Oussama Mellouli has proven himself to be one of the most versatile, powerful, graceful swimmers in the open water since Johnny Weissmuller in the 1920s. Similar to the famed Tarzan of yesteryear, Mellouli has demonstrated his speed, strength and stamina in both the pool and open water. A gold and bronze medalist in the 1500m in the pool in London and Beijing, the personable multi-lingual Tunisian was even more heroic in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in Hyde Park. Mellouli was not afraid to take control of the race in the Serpentine despite his relative inexperience. He had sufficient confident in his training and racing strategy to bolt into the lead at key points during the 10K. And when he accelerated towards the end, there was no one in the world who could keep up. For his impressively fast Olympic 10K marathon performance, for his willingness to step out of his comfort zone in the pool and try open water swimming, for his daily sacrifices that ultimately led to his Olympic medals, Oussama Mellouli is a worthy nominee for the 2012 WOWSA Open Water Swimming Man of the Year.”
Photo by Mike Lewis of SwimSwam and Ola Vista Photography.
Copyright © 2012 by Open Water Source
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.
Latest posts by Steven Munatones (see all)
