Neil Agius, Sharon van Rouwendaal Honored at WOWSA Awards
The World Open Water Swimming Affiliation unveiled the 2024 WOWSA Awards this week, honoring the perfect in open-water swimming throughout six classes.
Malta’s Neil Agius earned runner-up for Man of the 12 months and gained the Efficiency of the 12 months Award. Sharon van Rouwendaal gained Lady of the 12 months after her second Olympic marathon swim gold medal. Additionally honored was the Disney film, Younger Lady and the Sea, which was named the Product/Service of the 12 months.
Bulgaria’s Petar Stoychev gained Man of the 12 months for setting the quickest cumulative time for the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming (22 hours, 8 minutes, 46 seconds), greater than two hours faster than the roster. Stoychev accomplished the Oceans Seven problem in 173 days.
Agius’ honors have been for his world file for the longest unassisted, current-neutral ocean swim, which lined 142.3 kilometers in 60 hours, 35 minutes, 4 seconds round Malta and Gozo.
Third for Man of the 12 months and Second for Efficiency of the 12 months was Brian Foster of Eire, the youngest particular person to swim the North Channel in a two-way crossing lasting 24 hours, 50 minutes, 13 seconds.
Van Rouwendaal had a massively profitable yr. She gained the 10-kilometer swim on the Paris Olympics, her second gold medal after profitable the Rio race in 2016 to go along with silver in Tokyo in 2021. Van Rouwendaal additionally gained the 5-kilometer and 10-kilometer races on the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, taking her to 10 profession Worlds medals.
Melanie Barratt of the UK gained second place for Lady of the 12 months and Adaptive Efficiency of the 12 months. She turned the primary blind lady to swim the English Channel, finishing a crossing in 12 hours, 20 minutes. Third for Lady of the 12 months and in Efficiency of the 12 months was American Amy Appelhans Gubser, who turned the primary particular person to swim the 29.7 miles from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Farallon Islands.
The Adaptive Efficiency of the 12 months went to Jiya Rai, a 16-year-old from India who turned the primary woman with autism spectrum dysfunction to swim the English Channel (17 hours, 25 minutes). Third place went to Jonty Warenken, a 52-year-old British amputee who was the primary para-athlete to finish a solo circumnavigation of the island of Jersey (56 kilometers; 11 hours, 33 minutes).
The UK’s UltraSwim 33.3 is the Occasion of the 12 months, a multi-stage occasion mimicking the 33.3 kilometers that’s the English Channel crossing set in places throughout Europe. Second was the 27-kilometer Batalla de Rande in Spain, whereas the Port to Pub race from North Fremantle to Rottnest Island, Australia, completed third.
Younger Lady and the Sea, the Gertrude Ederle biopic produced by Disney and starring Daisy Ridley, was named the Product/Service of the 12 months.
Second place went to the Julian Critchlow English Channel Database, a complete documenting of Channel swims courting from 1875. Third went to Ram Barkai’s Ice Swimming Expedition to Antarctica, which included 12 swimmers beneath the auspices of the Worldwide Ice Swimming Affiliation.
WOWSA, which gives a platform and world help for open water swimming, culled its winners from 60 finalists hailing kind 24 international locations. A complete of 177 candidates have been nominated for the awards.
“The WOWSA Awards honor the extraordinary people whose dedication and resilience form the worldwide open water swimming neighborhood,” WOWSA Government Director Quinn Fitzgerald mentioned in a press launch. “These nominees have made a profound influence on the game, and we’re privileged to have fun them as true ambassadors of open water swimming.”
The WOWSA Awards are sponsored by Hasty Awards. The voting was performed by a weighted voting system, with a public vote of greater than 6,000 responses accounting for 25 % of the rating and the WOWSA Voting Academy’s 83-member board counting for 75 %. The complete voting is obtainable on WOWSA’s web site.
2024 WOWSA Awards
Man of 12 months
First place: Petar Stoychev, Bulgaria
Second place: Neil Agius, Malta
Third place: Brian Foster, Eire
Lady of the 12 months
First place: Sharon van Rouwendaal, Netherlands
Second place: Melanie Barratt, United Kingdom
Third place: Amy Applehans Gubser, United States
Efficiency of the 12 months
First place: Neil Agius, Malta
Second place: Brian Foster, Eire
Third place: Amy Applehans Gubser, United States
Adaptive Efficiency of the 12 months
First place: Jiya Rai, India
Second place: Melanie Barratt, United Kingdom
Third place: Jonty Warneken, United Kingdom
Occasion of the 12 months
First place: UltraSwim 33.3, United Kingdom
Second place: Batalla de Rande, Spain
Third place: Port to Pub, Australia
Product/Service of the 12 months
First place: Younger Lady and the Sea, United States
Second place: Julia Critchlow English Channel Database, United Kingdom
Third place: Ice Swimming Journey Expedition to Antarctica, South Africa
