Winners of the 2021 WOWSA Awards Announced
The World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA) announced the 2021 WOWSA Awards winners.
520 open water swimmers were formally nominated by their peers and fans in the sport. The finalists were selected by 12,727 swimmers who voted for the winners in a public online poll to determine the 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 Event of the Year, and World Open Water Swimming Product or Service of the Year.
The 2021 WOWSA Awards featured sponsors include Dryrobe, the original outdoor change robe and KAATSU, the original blood flow restriction technology.
This year, 77 nominees from 37 nations were represented in and nominated for the 2021 WOWSA Awards. They are all heroes and heroines in the sport. We are very pleased to announce two finalists and overall winner in the following five categories:
World Open Water Swimming Product or Service of the Year:
Winner: Aloo (Mexico)
First Runner Up: La Morada Club (Argentina)
Second Runner Up: Oceans Seven: How I Cheated Death And Broke The Hardest Record In Swimming (Hungary)
World Open Water Swimming Event of the Year:
Award Winner: Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli (Italy)
First Runner Up: Irish Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming (Ireland)
Second Runner Up: Mediterranean Peace Route (Cyprus-Turkey)
World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year:
Winner: Avram Iancu (Romania)
First Runner Up: José Eduardo do Amaral Ferreira (Brazil)
Second Runner Up: Jordan Leckey (Ireland)
World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year:
Winner: Paul Georgescu (Romania)
First Runner Up: Neil Agius (Malta)
Second Runner Up: Joel Matos Ortiz (Puerto Rico)
World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year:
Winner: Kate Steels (Great Britain)
First Runner Up: Elaine Burrows Dillane (Ireland)
Second Runner Up: Abhejali Bernardová (Czech Republic)
This year, the World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year and the World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year will receive a VOITED Outdoor Change Robe, TRISWIM Chlorine|Saltwater Removing Body & Hair Care Bundle, KAATSU blood flow consultation with an Olympic swim coach, and ORCA Openwater Backpack, Safety Buoy, and Killa 180° Goggles.
The video of the 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 roll 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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