FINA, the international governing body for 6 aquatic disciplines, has handed out its 2021 best-of awards.
Presented at a gala on Friday evening at the Hilton Abu Dhabi Yas Island Hotel, in conjunction with the World Short Course Swimming Championships, 12 superlatives were handed out for best Male and Female athlete in each of the organization’s 6 disciplines.
The awards for Best Artistic Swimmer were won by a trio of Russians: Aleksandr Maltsev won Best Male Artistic Swimmer, and the Russian duo of Svetlana Kolesnichenko and Svetlana Romashina won Best Female Artistic Swimmers.
Maltsev, considered a pioneer in male Russian artistic swimming, won a combined 10 golds throughout 2021. That includes four golds in the Mixed Duet Free, four in the Mixed Duet Technical, and two in the Men Solo Technical.
This honor marks the fourth time Maltsev has been named Best Male Artistic Swimmer of the year. He received this honor in 2015, 2017, and 2019 as well.
On the women’s side, Kolesnichenko won her third recognition and Romashina won her sixth. At the Tokyo Olympics, the pair won gold in the Women’s Duet event with a score of 195.0079. The two also competed and won gold in the Women’s Team event.
Over the course of her Olympic career, Kolesnichenko has won three medals, all of which have been gold. Romashina has also won seven gold medals throughout Beijing, London, Rio, and Tokyo: after this summer, she announced the end of her Olympic career.
FINA did not hand out awards in 2020 after the Olympic Games were postponed because of the COVID-19 outbreak. The full list of awards can be seen below.
- Best Male Water Polo Player in 2021: Filip Filipović (2nd award)
- Best Female Water Polo Player in 2021: Maggie Steffens (2nd award)
- Best Male Artistic Swimmer in 2021: Aleksandr Maltsev (4th award)
- Best Female Artistic Swimmer in 2021: Svetlana Kolesnichenko (3rd award) & Svetlana Romashina (6th award)
- Best Male Diver in 2021: Xie Siyi (2nd award)
- Best Female Diver in 2021: Shi Tingmao (6th award)
- Best Male High Diver in 2021: Owen Weymouth (1st award)
- Best Female High Diver in 2021: Ellie Smart (1st award)
- Best Male Swimmer in 2021: Caeleb Dressel (3rd award)
- Best Female Swimmer in 2021: Emma McKeon (1st award)
- Best Male Open Water Swimmer in 2021: Florian Wellbrock (1st award)
- Best Female Open Water Swimmer in 2021: Ana Marcela Cunha (7th award)