Open Water Man/Woman of the Year

UPDATE USA Swimming posted the following information on their home page (as least until today) regarding the 2008 World Open Water Swimming Man & Woman of the Year awards: www.usaswimming.org/.../ViewNewsArticle.aspx. I did not ask USA Swimming to do so, but it was an interesting online link because after the first two days of the public poll, the masters representatives (i.e., Randy Nutt, Marcia Cleveland, Alex Kostich, Penny Palfrey) have opened up strong leads and seem to making a break. Only Sid Cassidy and Natalie du Toit are giving chase in the early voting. But, perhaps like the FINA open water races, the Europeans like to draft off the leaders and come on strong at the end. Continued good luck to the masters. The marathon ends December 31, 2008. Steven Munatones www.10Kswimmer.com www.10Kswim.com :cheerleader::cheerleader:Way to go,Masters voters!:cheerleader::cheerleader:

All the 2008 Man of the Year and Woman of the Year nominees are incredible people who have very positively helped the sport of open water swimming as an athlete, race director, administrator, coach and/or promoter. From athletes like Maarten van der Weijden, who came back from leukemia to win the Olympic 10K gold medal, and Natalie du Toit, who warmed people's hearts around the world with her courageous swims and humble nature despite her handicap... ...to administrators like Sid Cassidy and Shelley Taylor-Smith who both worked tirelessly and feverishly to get open water swimming into the Olympics - and pulled off a great event that was televised live to over 70 countries... ...all these nominees are wonderfully talented and dedicated people. As I look at the early poll results, it appears that open water enthusiasts are voting strongly for the individuals who organize and host races. Race directors like Douglas Woodring in Hong Kong, Emilio Casanueva in Santa Barbara and Scott Rice in New Zealand are representative of race directors worldwide who spend countless hours putting on races. A few other things stand out in my mind as I look at these early results: 1. Athletes who continue to perform at a high level after years of competition, such as Alex Kostich of California, Penny Palfrey and Edith van Dijk of the Netherlands, are highly respected and are doing well in the voting. 2. Marcia Cleveland and Randy Nutt have obviously earned the respect for the work they have done and achievements they have earned over the years. 3. If this information were also available in languages other than English, voting patterns may change (somewhat). Thank you very much for visiting and voting. Stay tuned.

Woman: Split my vote between Kristina (a.k.a. (S)he-man, CreamPuff) and Jennifer of the Northumberland Straits Man: 17-y-o lifeguard at Indiana Dunes who, after months of staring at Chicago shoreline ca. 30 miles away, went home and said, "Ma, I think I can swim there." And did. These swimmers have dramatically broadened notions of who can swim what OW over the past 12 months. Male runner-up: Tom Boettcher, who has frequently swum Big Shoulders 5k all butterfly :applaud:

Jennifer Figge to try to swim across Atlantic Ocean: video.aol.com/.../2322209 Wonder if that would count.... I'll watch the video late some night (less competition, on dialup), but I liked some of the comments, from people who are doing long-distance OW swims to little glory other than local news accounts, and raising money for charitable causes while doing so. :applaud:

After 5,641 unique online votes were submitted from all over the world on www.10Kswimmer.com, Randy Nutt of Aqua Moon Adventures was selected as the 2008 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year was Randy Nutt and former 6-time world champion, mother, Olympian Edith van Dijk of the Netherlands was selected as the 2008 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year. Congratulations to these two fine individuals who embody the spirit of open water swimming, possess a sense of adventure, tenacity and perseverance that open water swimmers are known for and who positively influenced the world of open water swimming in 2008.