2021 WOWSA Awards

The official record of the 2021 WOWSA Awards, including the categories, winners and every verified finalist or nominee preserved for that cycle.

Cycle overview

Records: 77
Categories: 5
Voting model: Global online community vote. Registered users could vote once; verified community profiles carried ten votes while ordinary registered users carried one vote. Unique email and IP safeguards were used.

Winners

World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year
Paul Georgescu
Romania
Completed the Seven Lakes Project, including 100 km swims in six Romanian lakes, and set a world record in ice swimming.
World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year
Kate Steels
Great Britain
Completed the Ice Sevens challenge while raising funds and awareness for suicide prevention.
World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year
Avram Iancu
Romania
Swam 26.35 km upstream in the Danube from the Iron Gate Dam in 18 hours 30 minutes.
World Open Water Swimming Event of the Year
Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli
Italy
A historic 36 km professional and amateur marathon swim from Capri to Naples, first held in 1954.
World Open Water Swimming Product or Service of the Year
Aloo
Mexico

Complete results

World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year

1Paul GeorgescuRomaniaWinner
2Neil AgiusMaltaRunner-up
3Joel Matos OrtizPuerto RicoRunner-up
4Josef KöberlAustriaNominee
5Dr. Jaiprakash DubleIndiaNominee
6Pablo Fernández ÁlvarezSpainNominee
7Stève “Seal” StievenartFranceNominee
8Simon GriffithsGreat BritainNominee
9Bogusław OgrodnikPolandNominee
10Joseph ZemaitisUSANominee
11Damián BlaumArgentinaNominee
12Florian WellbrockGermanyNominee
13Stéphane LecatFranceNominee
14Kristóf RasovszkyHungaryNominee
15Andre SladeAustraliaNominee

World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year

1Kate SteelsGreat BritainWinner
2Elaine Burrows DillaneIrelandRunner-up
3Abuejalj BernardováCzech RepublicRunner-up
4Myra SantosBrazilNominee
5Merle LiivandEstoniaNominee
6Shu PuHong KongNominee
7Sarah ThomasUSANominee
8Amy EmmionGreat BritainNominee
9Lexie KellyUSANominee
10Maria CotignoloUruguayNominee
11Cholë Mc CardelAustraliaNominee
12Ana Marcela CunhaBrazilNominee
13Abigail FairmanUSANominee
Carina Bruwer PuglieseSouth AfricaNominee
Kerry KopkeSouth AfricaNominee

World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year

1Avram IancuRomaniaWinner
2José Eduardo do Amaral FerreiraBrazilRunner-up
3Jordan LeckeyIrelandRunner-up
4Krzysztof GajewskiPolandNominee
5Meliah MotchmanCanadaNominee
6Courtney Moates PaulkUSANominee
7Rusya – Türkiye Uluslararası Karadeniz 320 km Açık Deniz Yüzme MaratonuRussia – TurkeyNominee
8Jennifer DuttonUSANominee
9John BatchelderUSANominee
10Serge Gellé and Andrianarison Jimmy LaitsaraMadagascarNominee
11Qing LiUSANominee
12Défi TiticacaFranceNominee
13Anna BrownAndorraNominee
14Oceane CassignolFranceNominee
15Matan RoditiIsraelNominee

World Open Water Swimming Event of the Year

1Maratona del Golfo Capri-NapoliItalyWinner
2Irish Triple Crown of Open Water SwimmingIrelandRunner-up
3Mediterranean Peace RouteCyprus–TurkeyRunner-up
Around-Coronado SwimUSANominee
Asociación Mexicana de Aguas AbiertasMexicoNominee
Authentic Marathon SwimGreeceNominee
DC Marathon SwimUSANominee
Olympic 10K Marathon SwimJapanNominee
Perhentian Island Marathon SwimMalaysiaNominee
Race For The Conch Eco-SeaSwimTurks & CaicosNominee
Rottnest Channel SwimAustraliaNominee
Strait of BonifacioItaly–FranceNominee
Tampa Bay Frogman SwimUSANominee
Trans Tahoe RelayUSANominee
Wörthersee Swim AustriaAustriaNominee

World Open Water Swimming Product or Service of the Year

1AlooMexicoWinner
2La Morada ClubArgentinaRunner-up
3Oceans Seven: How I Cheated Death And Broke The Hardest Record In SwimmingHungaryRunner-up
Against The CurrentUSA / PolynesiaNominee
Amphibia Dry MatIrelandNominee
Ask Me Why I’m Stood Here: A Bristol Channel Swim TaleGreat BritainNominee
Bruckner Chase Ocean PositiveUSANominee
Freedom SwimmerChina–Hong KongNominee
Goa Open Water Swimming ClubIndiaNominee
Hammer Head Swim CapsUSANominee
Maarten van der Weijden FoundationNetherlandsNominee
Ocean Walker Academy & Wellbeing CentreGreat BritainNominee
Open Water Swim TraverseLebanonNominee
Radikal Swim Swimming ClubSpainNominee
Safe SeaIsraelNominee
The Swim ReaperNew ZealandNominee
We Swim WildGreat BritainNominee

Source and archival note

This record is maintained by the World Open Water Swimming Association using original Awards records, published results, archived pages and verified supporting sources. Historical names and category names are preserved as published in 2021.

Complete archive of all 77 published nominees: 15 Man of the Year, 15 Woman of the Year, 15 Performance of the Year, 17 Product or Service of the Year, and 15 Event of the Year. The Openwaterpedia WOWSA Awards master page is the primary list source; individual WOWSA articles are retained for rankings, vote details, and winner narratives.

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