World Open Water Swimming Association







noun - WOWSA, pronounced wōw-za, is an acronym for the World Open Water Swimming Association.
Contents
- 1 WOWSA Mission
- 2 Scope
- 3 WOWSA Establishment & Governance
- 4 WOWSA Properties
- 5 WOWSA Online Properties
- 6 Guinness World Records
- 7 Open Water Swimming Brands & Terms
- 8 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
- 9 WOWSA Awards
- 10 WOWSA Awards
- 11 Videos
- 12 WOWSA Live
- 13 Videos of Open Water Swimmers
- 14 Open Water Source
- 15 Video Introduction
- 16 Open Water Source Partnerships
- 17 Open Water Source Products
- 18 References
- 19 External Links
WOWSA Mission
To educate, entertain, and enthuse those who venture beyond the shore.
Scope
WOWSA is an organization dedicated to the organization, promotion and recognition of open water swimmers, open water swimming events, open water swimming records, trends, publications, films, podcasts, open water swimming vernacular, and achievements in the marathon swimming, ice swimming, winter swimming, circumnavigation swimming, stage swimming, Olympic 10K Marathon Swim history, extreme swimming, escorting, coaching, kayaking, governing body and International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame communities. WOWSA follows swimmers and open water swimming events in oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, dams, reservoirs, canals, channels, lagoons, fjords, estuaries, basins, lochs, coves, meres, firths, sounds, straits, bays and harbors on the seven continents.
WOWSA Establishment & Governance
WOWSA was established in July 2005 by Steven Munatones in order to provide a plethora of information to support the global growth of open water swimming. Its initial focus was an online platform to promote the introduction of the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was based on the work first established by a now-defunct website, www.10kswimming.com.
Its current board of directors include Antonio Argüelles, an Oceans Seven and Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming member from Mexico City, and Quinn Fitzgerald, a 2019 ice swimming world champion from San Francisco. Its advisors include 7-time professional marathon swimming champion Shelley Taylor-Smith, Olympic swimming coach and race director Chris Morgan, and ocean advocate Bruckner Chase.
WOWSA Properties
- WOWSA Awards
- WOWSA Live
- Daily News of Open Water Swimming
- Openwaterpedia
- Oceans Seven
- World Swimming Majors
- Global Open Water Swimming Conference
- Half Century Club
- World's Top 100 Open Water Swims
- World's Top 100 Island Swims
- World's Top 100 River Swims
- World's Top 100 Urban Swims
- America's Top 50 Open Water Swims
- Asia's Top 50 Open Water Swims
- Africa's Top 100 Open Water Swims
- Aquatic Animation for Analysis and Education
- I Got Stung
- World Open Water Swimming Series
- Global Open Water Swimming Race Calendar
- POW or Pool Open Water
- Tsugaru Channel Swimming Association
- World's 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Men
- World's 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Women
- Open Water Almanac
- Open Water Wednesday
- Pyramid of Open Water Success
- Sponsor My Swim
- 101 Movers And Shakers In The Open Water Swimming World
- Greatest Watermen in Open Water Swimming History
- promotion of Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming
- promotion of Ice Sevens
- promotion of Ice Ironman, Ice Ironwoman
- promotion of high-altitude open water swims and low-altitude open water swims
- promotion of Continents Seven
- promotion of Circumnavigation Sevens
WOWSA Online Properties
- Open Water Swimming
- Marathon Swimming
- I Got Stung
- Pool Open Water
- Daily News of Open Water Swimming
- Olympic 10K Marathon Swim
- World Open Water Swimming Association
- World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation
- Openwaterpedia
- Open Water Swimming Race Calendar
- World's Top 100 Open Water Swims
- Tsugaru Channel Swimming Association
- Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming
- America's Top 50 Open Water Swims
- Open Water Swimming Magazine
Guinness World Records
The World Open Water Swimming Association has a partnership with the Guinness World Records (GWR) where WOWSA serves as GWR’s advisor and ratification body regarding open water swimming records and information regarding the sport. WOWSA and GWR support the open water swimming community to verify and celebrate the most significant superlative achievements in this wide-ranging series of open water disciplines.
Open Water Swimming Brands & Terms
WOWSA has promoted the following terms and brands in the open water swimming community:
- Open Water Swimming Magazine
- WOWSA Live
- Open Water Swimming Dictionary
- Openwaterpedia
- World's Top 100 Open Water Swims
- America's Top 50 Open Water Swims
- World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year Award
- World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year Award
- World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year Award
- World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year Award
- Open Water Wednesday
- Half Century Club
- World Open Water Swimming Record list
- World Swimming Majors
- Pyramid of Open Water Success
- Oceans Seven
- Open Water Almanac
- Daily News of Open Water Swimming
- International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame
- 10Kswim
- Virtual Swim
- Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming website
- Water Polo Hair
- SwiMetrics
- Global Open Water Swimming Conference
- Open Water Swimming Safety Conference
- Waikiki Roughwater Swim Clinics
- Pioneering Oceans Seven
- Oceans Seven Pioneer
- Oceans Grand Slam
- Swimming Summits
- Pyramid of Open Water Success
- Navigational IQ
- Sub-3 x 2 Marathon Club (Sub-32 Marathon)
- Sub-6 Club
- Open Water Swimming Dictionary
- Openwaterpedia
- Urban swim
- World's Top 100 Island Swims
- World's Top 100 Open Water Swims
- America's Top 50 Open Water Swims
- 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 Offering of the Year
- World's 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Men
- World's 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Women
- open water orienteering
- Open Water Wednesday
- Half Century Club
- World Swimming Majors
- Kodomari Route
- Tappi Misaki Route
- Oceans Seven
- Open Water Almanac
- Daily News of Open Water Swimming
- SwiMetrics
- Global Open Water Swimming Conference
- bioprene
- railroading
- 3-wide
- Swimming Wellness
- Walkerized
- Aquaour
- Open waterist
- dual honoree, dual inductee
- UFO (Unidentified Floating Object
- Frying a Swim
- Ice Ironman
- water chill factor
- EPOS (Estimated Probability of Success)
- Ice Sevens Challenge or Ice Sevens, together with Ger Kennedy and the International Ice Swimming Association
- Pulling a Mellouli
- yacht swimming
- swim cruise holiday
- dark swim
- barnacled
- chummed
- closed in
- drop anchor
- Century swim
- Century swimmer
- Pioneering Oceans Seven
- Oceans Seven Pioneer
- High-altitude open water swim
- Low-altitude open water swim
- smart transponder
- Barraesque
- Do No Freestyle, Did Not Freestyle
- Did Not Fail
- open water orienteering
- Save Ourselves Swim (SOS)
- Ice Ironman
- Ice Ironwoman
- Continents Seven
- 2fer0
- free solo swim
- Mellouli Number
- Mellouli Double
- swimsourcing
- cross-border swim
- cross-continental swim
- Triple Crown of Extreme Sports
- Safety stoppage
- The Ilchenko
- Circumnavigation Sevens
- under cap
- top cap
- source to sea swim
- WOWSA Live
- 9 Hands of Open Water Swimming
- KAATSU Aqua
Daily News of Open Water Swimming
- The Daily News of Open Water Swimming is written, researched and managed by the World Open Water Swimming Association. It is an online blog that has published 19,739 articles (as of 10 October 2020) and compiled results, records, data and demographic information on the following:
- solo open water swimming and marathon swimming world records
- open water swimming and marathon swimming relay records
- solo open water swims and open water swimming relays
- open water charity events
- Ecoswims
- Stage swims
- professional marathon swimming races, including FINA 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup and the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix
- Olympic 10K Marathon Swim
- open water swimming trends
- open water swimming products
- open water swimming services
- personalities
- coaches
- governing bodies and associations
- rules, regulations, protocols, procedures and policies
- books, films and DVDs
- blogs, conferences, camps and clinics
- feats and exploits
- International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame
- happenings in the open water swimming world
- open water swimming terms
- Oceans Seven
- World Swimming Majors
- World Marathon Swimming Records
- Half Century Club
- World Open Water Swimming Records
- Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming
- World's Top 100 Open Water Swims
- Global Open Water Swimming Safety Conference
- Global Open Water Swimming Conference
- Jellyfish stings
- Global Open Water Swimming Race Calendar
WOWSA Awards
- WOWSA Awards are organized and sponsored by the World Open Water Swimming Association. The WOWSA Awards serve as an annual public recognition of the world's most remarkable and impactful open water swimmers and products or services in 4 categories via a global online poll:
- WOWSA honors athletes, coaches, pilots and administrators through its Lifetime Achievement Awards given at the Global Open Water Swimming Conference.
WOWSA Awards
The World Open Water Swimming Association sponsors and organizes the WOWSA Awards that include the World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year, the World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year, the World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year, and the World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year.
Locations
The WOWSA Awards were held in the following locations:
- 2008 in Huntington Beach, California.
- 2009 in conjunction with the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Long Beach, California, USA.
- 2010 in conjunction with the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Long Beach, California, USA as part of the USA Swimming National Open Water Swimming Championships.
- 2011 in conjunction with the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in the United Nations in New York City, U.S.A.
- 2012 in conjunction with the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame induction ceremonies on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California.
- 2013 in conjunction with the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Cork, Ireland on 11-13 October.
- 2014 in conjunction with the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Bute, Scotland.
- 2015 in conjunction with the the Big Chill winter swimming event in Windermere, England.
- 2017 in conjunction with the Global Open Water Swimming Conference in Tunisia.
- 2019 in Redondo Beach, California, USA.
World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year Recipients
- 2008 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year: Randy Nutt of the USA
- 2009 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year: Petar Stoychev of Bulgaria
- 2010 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year: Marcos Diaz of the Dominican Republic
- 2011 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year: Jamie Patrick of the U.S.A.
- 2012 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year: Stephen Redmond of Ireland
- 2013 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year: Pádraig Mallon of Ireland
- 2014 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year: Henri Kaarma of Estonia
- 2015 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year: Antonio Argüelles Díaz-González of Mexico
- 2016 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year: Nejib Belhedi of Tunisia
- 2017 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year: Antonio Argüelles Díaz-González of Mexico
- 2018 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year: Ion Lazarenco Tiron of the Republic of Moldava
- 2019 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year: Adherbal Treidler de Oliveira of Brazil
World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year Recipients
- 2008 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year: Edith van Dijk of the Netherlands
- 2009 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year: Poliana Okimoto of Brazil
- 2010 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year: Anne Marie Ward of Ireland
- 2011 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year: Pilar Geijo of Argentina
- 2012 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year: Annaleise Carr of Canada
- 2013 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year: Olga Kozydub of Russia
- 2014 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year: Nataliya Fatyanova, M.D. of Russia
- 2015 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year: Bridgette Hobart Janeczko of U.S.A.
- 2016 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year: Jaimie Monahan of U.S.A.
- 2017 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year: Jaimie Monahan of U.S.A.
- 2018 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year: Aleksandra Bednarek (Poland)
- 2019 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year: Mariel Hawley Dávila of Mexico
World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year Recipients
- 2009 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year: by Andrew Smilley of the Cayman Islands for his performance at the RCP Tiburon Mile in San Francisco
- 2010 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year: by Ventura Deep Six of U.S.A. for its 202-miles (325 km) relay in 101 hours 39 minutes along the California coast
- 2011 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year: by Nejib Belhedi of Tunisia for his coastal 1400K Swim Across Tunisia
- 2012 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year: by Juan Ignacio Martínez Fernández-Villamil of Spain for organizing the Descenso a Nado de la Ría de Navia for decades
- 2013 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year: by Bering Strait Swim, an international relay with 121 participants (swimmers + officials + crew)
- 2014 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year: by Diomede Islands Swim, a 5.6 km tandem swim by Alexandr Brylin and Grigorii Prokopchuk of Russia between the USA and Russia
- 2015 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year: by Strait of Messina record-breaking crossing by Andrea Fazio of Italy
- 2016 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year: by Sarah Thomas of U.S.A. for her 80-mile (128.7 km) crossing of Lake Powell in 56 hours 5 minutes 26 seconds
- 2017 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year: by Margarita Llorens Bagur (Spain) for her 37-hour 73 km solo attempt between Ibiza and Javea in Islas Baleares
- 2018 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year: by Ross Edgley for his 157-day Great British Swim around Great Britain
- 2019 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year: by Roman Karkachev, Timur Falomkin, Andrey Zamyslov, and Anton Kutuev for their 25 km Gulf Of Finland Relay.
World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year Recipients
- 2012 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year: SWIM Channel, produced by Patrick Winkler of Brazil
- 2013 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year: International Ice Swimming Association, founded by Ram Barkai of South Africa
- 2014 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year: Step Out Of The Ordinary Blue Letter Campaign by Pádraig Mallon and Camlough Lake Water Festival (Ireland)
- 2015 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year: World Ice Swimming Championships in Murmansk, Russia by the International Ice Swimming Association
- 2016 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year: Samsung Bosphorus Cross-Continental Swim (Turkey)
- 2017 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year: Sea Donkey by James Harrison with Adrian Sarchet (Guernsey)
- 2018 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year: Icebears Hintertux by Josef Köberl (Austria)
- 2019 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year: Travesía Interminable by Antonio Argüelles (Mexico) and Adam Skolnick (U.S.A.)
Videos
WOWSA Live
WOWSA hosts the WOWSA Live speaker series.
Videos of Open Water Swimmers
Open Water Source
Open Water Source, now called World Open Water Swimming Association or WOWSA is based in Huntington Beach, California, USA and offers a comprehensive, multi-lingual, authoritative online reference and community portal for the global open water swimming community.
WOWSA develops unique content, databases, proprietary informational resources and entertaining mobile apps that educate, motivate and stimulate swimmers of all ages, abilities and backgrounds. Its staff travels the world participating in, advising for, observing or reporting on open water swims and trends and open water swimmers, both amateur and professional, which enables them to present its content and vision.
WOWSA manages the annual World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year award, World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year award, World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year award, Global Open Water Swimming Conference, Global Open Water Swimming Safety Conference, Lifetime Achievement Awards and the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame induction ceremonies
Video Introduction
Open Water Source Partnerships
WOWSA partners with collaborators, enthusiasts, correspondents, coaches, athletes, service providers and race directors on five continents who similarly share a deep passion and thirst for knowledge of the sport. WOWSA has provided advice and support to race directors and open water swimming organizations in Mexico, Canada, Fiji, Cayman Islands, Brazil, Costa Rica, Japan, Greece, South Africa, Serbia, Tunisia and throughout the United States from Hawaii to New York as well as the Special Olympics, U.S. Masters Swimming, USA Swimming, and the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame.
Open Water Source Products
WOWSA offers the following products, services and content:
- Openwaterpedia
- World Swimming Majors
- Global open water swimming race/event calendar
- POW (Pool Open Water)
- The Pyramid of Open Water Success
- Global Open Water Swimming Conference
- The Daily News of Open Water Swimming
- Open Water Almanac
- World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year Award
- World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year Award
- World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year Award
- Open Water Swimming Dictionary
- World Open Water Swimming Records
- World Marathon Swimming Records
- World Open Water Swimming Rankings
- OWS World
- World’s Top 100 Open Water Swims
- America’s Top 50 Open Water Swims
- Virtual Swim training software
- Virtual Racing
- World’s Most Difficult Swims
- Ocean’s Seven
- Open Water Wednesday
- Open Water Best Practices
- Open Water Swimming Coaching / Race Director / Race Officials Certification Programs
- Half Century Club
- Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming
References
We are defining and identifying the global open water swimming market. While there are many blogs and athlete websites out there, our market and readership is tightly focused – for athletes and coaches of all ages and abilities who enjoy open water swimming, including those triathletes who wish to improve their swimming. Read more...
External Links
- Nike Swim Sponsors Open Water Splash at ASCA World Clinic
- Narración de mi Travesía del Canal del Norte
- Nominate Open Water Swimming Heroes and Heroines for the 2021 WOWSA Awards
- Aerial Footage of the Open Water - High From Above Offers New Perspectives
- How to Prepare for Nausea, Vomiting and Motion Sickness in Open Water Swimming
- Evan Morrison Honored by the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame
- Evan Morrison Honored by the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame
- The ICE Series: Distance in the ICE with Paul Georgescu, Hamza Bakircioglu, Krzysztof Kubiak
- The ICE Series: Uncovering Myths with Natalia Szydlowski
- WOWSA and the Special Olympics
- WOWSA.org
- Acronyms In The Open Water Swimming World
- Dillane And The Dolphins
- WOWSA Live Bloopers
- World Open Water Swimming Association
- I Do Not Know Yet What I Cannot Do
- WOWSA Awards
- Open Water Swimming
- Lifetime Achievement Awards
- Butterfly Swim Rules In The Open Water
- Backstroke Swim Rules In The Open Water
- Breaststroke Swim Rules In The Open Water
- Moreno From Navia Humbly Gives Thanks
- Why Do Healthy Athletes In The Open Water?
- When And Where? Global Open Water Swimming Race Calendar
- Wayne Soutter To Speak At The Global Open Water Conference
- C3 Results From Cape Circumnavigation Challenge
- 50 Things Open Water Swimmer Should Not Do
- 100 Things Every Open Water Swimmer Should Know
- America's Very Difficult Open Water Swims
- 10 Difficult Short Open Water Swims
- Veljko Rogošić's Moje Najteže Milje - His Hardest Mile
- Assisted Or Unassisted? Marathon Swimmers To Decide
- The World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation
- Inequality In The Open Water, Part 1
- Marathon Swimming
- Olympic 10K Marathon Swimming
- World's Best Beach & Open Water Swimming Towns
- World Open Water Swimming Association
- Gabriel Viti, Jr. Has An Appetite For The Extreme
- WOWSA Survey On The Sport Of Open Water Swimming
- 50 Things An Open Water Swimmer Should Not Do
- 100 Things Every Open Water Swimmer Should Know
- Open Water Swimming
- Lifetime Achievement Awards
- WOWSA Performance of the Year - Tina Neill
- Annaleise Carr Is Anything But L.O.S.T.
- Why I Swim
- 2012 WOWSA Man Of The Year, Stephen Redmond
- 2012 WOWSA Woman Of The Year, Annaleise Carr
- 2012 WOWSA Offering Of The Year, SWIM Channel
- 2012 WOWSA Performance Of The Year, Moreno In Navia
- WOW...Whatta Year Of Achievement
- WOWSA, IMSHOF Heads To Cork, Ireland
- 2013 International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame registration page
- 2013 International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame Facebook page
- Moreno From Navia Humbly Gives Thanks
- Why Do Healthy Athletes In The Open Water?
- When And Where? Global Open Water Swimming Race Calendar
- What Is An Ocean Advocate?
- Film To Premiere At The Global Open Water Swimming Conference
- Sponsor My Swim website
- Sally Minty-Gravett Presents Sink Or Swim In Cork
- Charlotte Samuels On Cape Circumnavigation Challenge
- Pádraig Mallon, A Credit To His Community And His Sport
- 2013 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year Nominees
- A Champion Mindset Through And Through
- 100 Things Every Open Water Swimmer Should Know
- World Open Water Swimming Association
- St. Ninian's Bay To Host International Swim Celebration
- Pádraig Mallon To Be Honored In Mount Stuart Castle
- Olga Kozydub To Be Honored In Scotland
- Good Kaarma In The Ice Water
- The Family Of Open Water Swimming
- Christian Reichert Is On A Upwards Trajectory
- Adam Ellenstein Claims World Record For Wetsuit Swim
- Toxic Guanabara, Story Of A Sad Bay
- Samsung Bosphorus Cross-Continental Swim Is 2016 World Open Water Swimming Offering Of The Year
- Sarah Thomas' Lake Powell Marathon Is 2016 World Open Water Swimming Performance Of The Year
- Nejib Belhedi Is 2016 World Open Water Swimming Man Of The Year
- Jaimie Monahan Is 2016 World Open Water Swimming Woman Of The Year
- Pure And Simple, A Silver Lining For Alexander Popov
- 2019 World's 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Men
- 2019 World's 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Women
- WOWSA Awards