The WOWSA Awards 2026 × Outdoor Swimmer

2024 WOWSA Awards

The official record of the 2024 WOWSA Awards, including the categories, winners and every verified finalist or nominee preserved for that cycle.

Cycle overview

Records
60
Categories
6
Voting model
Voting Academy and Advisory Board selected 10 finalists per category; final result weighted 75% Academy and 25% public

Winners

  • WOWSA Man of the Year

    Petar Stoychev

    Bulgaria

    Completed the Oceans Seven challenge in 173 days and set the fastest cumulative Triple Crown time of 22 hours 8 minutes 46 seconds.

  • WOWSA Woman of the Year

    Sharon van Rouwendaal

    Netherlands

    Became the first swimmer to win two Olympic 10 km gold medals and also won the 5 km and 10 km world titles.

  • WOWSA Performance of the Year

    Neil Agius

    Malta

    Set a world record for the longest unassisted, current-neutral ocean swim, covering 142.3 km around Malta and Gozo in 60 hours 35 minutes 4 seconds.

  • WOWSA Adaptive Performance of the Year

    Jiya Rai

    India

  • WOWSA Event of the Year

    UltraSwim 33.3

    Croatia

  • WOWSA Product or Service of the Year

    Young Woman & The Sea

    USA

Complete results

WOWSA Man of the Year

  • 1Petar StoychevBulgariaScore 0.2153011545Winner
  • 2Neil AgiusMaltaScore 0.2017464954Runner-up
  • 3Brian FosterIrelandScore 0.1666411647Finalist
  • 4Steve StievenartFranceScore 0.1066583206Finalist
  • 5Andy DonaldsonScotlandScore 0.09096690932Finalist
  • 6Kristóf RasovszkyHungaryScore 0.05360349917Finalist
  • 7Paul GeorgescuRomaniaScore 0.05204633622Finalist
  • 8Lynton MortensenAustraliaScore 0.0483222825Finalist
  • 9Andreas WaschburgerGermanyScore 0.03977450117Finalist
  • 10Milko Van GoolNetherlandsScore 0.02493933633Finalist

WOWSA Woman of the Year

  • 1Sharon van RouwendaalNetherlandsScore 0.146961304Winner
  • 2Melanie BarrattUKScore 0.1464084859Runner-up
  • 3Amy Appelhans GubserUSAScore 0.1384501444Finalist
  • 4Bárbara Hernández HuertaChileScore 0.1316204472Finalist
  • 5Vera and Margaret RivardUSAScore 0.1027476737Finalist
  • 6Nathalie PohlGermanyScore 0.1012117225Finalist
  • 7Mayra SantosPortugalScore 0.06908360301Finalist
  • 8Leonie BeckGermanyScore 0.05665483507Finalist
  • 9Caitlin O’ReillyNew ZealandScore 0.05631095612Finalist
  • 10Carol WortmanUSAScore 0.05055082817Finalist

WOWSA Performance of the Year

  • 1Neil AgiusMaltaScore 0.1882530943Winner
  • 2Brian FosterIrelandScore 0.1697762722Runner-up
  • 3Amy Appelhans GubserUSAScore 0.1405667908Finalist
  • 4Neil GilsonUKScore 0.1158349368Finalist
  • 5Kamil Resa AlsaranTurkeyScore 0.08331627571Finalist
  • 6Vera and Margaret (Team) RivardUSAScore 0.07068680831Finalist
  • 7Fergal SomervilleIrelandScore 0.06673967331Finalist
  • 8Halani Moss-VeteUSA / American SamoaScore 0.05792258566Finalist
  • 9Melissa KeglerUSAScore 0.05774518634Finalist
  • 10Olga O’SullivanIrelandScore 0.04915837666Finalist

WOWSA Adaptive Performance of the Year

  • 1Jiya RaiIndiaScore 0.1855431076Winner
  • 2Melanie BarrettUKScore 0.1383817856Runner-up
  • 3Jonty WarnekenUKScore 0.1335250758Finalist
  • 4Carlos Eugenio Bastos RamosBrazilScore 0.1191121004Finalist
  • 5Nicola DoranScore 0.1108733467Finalist
  • 6Andrea LanariItalyScore 0.07683978024Finalist
  • 7Patricia HeffernanIrelandScore 0.06697135919Finalist
  • 8Tina DeekenGermanyScore 0.06615329636Finalist
  • 9Stephen WhiteScore 0.0571955084Finalist
  • 10Gerrard GosensAustraliaScore 0.04540463971Finalist

WOWSA Event of the Year

  • 1UltraSwim 33.3CroatiaScore 0.2411657279Winner
  • 2Batalla de RandeSpainScore 0.2155137006Runner-up
  • 3Port to PubAustraliaScore 0.1575426861Finalist
  • 4Oradea Ice ChampionshipsRomaniaScore 0.1494601889Finalist
  • 5Make Waves for Hong KongHong KongScore 0.1460020243Finalist
  • 6El CruceScore 0.1323453911Finalist
  • 7Marathon River Swim SeriesScore 0.1206397055Finalist
  • 8USA’s 1st Ice Swimming ChampionshipUSAScore 0.1196385613Finalist
  • 9Amsterdam Ice SwimNetherlandsScore 0.115395617Finalist
  • 10Best Fest Mallorca 10th AnniversarySpainScore 0.1022963973Finalist

WOWSA Product or Service of the Year

  • 1Young Woman & The SeaUSAScore 0.2595683576Winner
  • 2Julian Critchlow English Channel DatabaseUKScore 0.1203793221Runner-up
  • 3Ice Swimming Adventure Expedition to AntarcticaScore 0.09782472702Finalist
  • 4Pedro Ordenes (Posthumous)ChileScore 0.09500398089Finalist
  • 5HITtheWALLIrelandScore 0.08369256142Finalist
  • 6Open Water AfricaSouth AfricaScore 0.07838660146Finalist
  • 7dryrobe® AdaptUKScore 0.07795439035Finalist
  • 8Josef KöberlAustriaScore 0.06614535942Finalist
  • 9Epic Swim MauiUSAScore 0.06485156961Finalist
  • 10Outside the Lanes - Becca MannUSAScore 0.05619313012Finalist

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 2024.

849 nominators; 83-member Academy and Advisory Board; more than 6,000 public votes.

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