Swimming World Reveals 2009 World Swimmers of the Year -- December 1, 2009
PHOENIX, Arizona, December 1. TODAY is the day we've all been waiting for! Swimming World is proud to announce Michael Phelps of the United States and Federica Pellegrini of Italy as the World Swimmers of the Year.
Federica Pellegrini became the first Italian to win a World Swimmer of the Year award from Swimming World Magazine in a close vote over Germany's Britta Steffen. Pellegrini put together a show in front of her home country at the World Championships held in Rome this year. She shattered world records in the 200 and 400-meter freestyles to earn her spot atop the heap this year.
Top Five Female World Swimmers of the Year 1. FEDERICA PELLEGRINI, Italy
2. Britta Steffen, Germany
3. Kirsty Coventry, Zimbabwe
4. Jessicah Schipper, Australia
5. Jessica Hardy, USA
There are very few career records that Michael Phelps does not own, and with this year's World Swimmer of the Year nod – he claimed another one. Heading into this year, Phelps (2006-08) was tied with Debbie Meyer (1967-69) as the only swimmers to ever win the World Swimmer of the Year award for their respective gender three years in a row. With his fourth-straight honor, he now owns the record outright, and pushed his record tally to six.
Top Five Male World Swimmers of the Year 1. MICHAEL PHELPS, USA
2. Paul Biedermann, Germany
3. Cesar Cielo, Brazil
4. Ryan Lochte, USA
5. Aaron Peirsol, USA
Announcements So Far:
Nov. 22. Divers of the Year: China's Guo Jingjing, Qin Kai. Story Nov. 23. Water Polo Players of the Year. U.S. Betsey Armstrong, Serbia's Andrija Prlainovic. Story Nov. 24. Synchronized Swimmer of the Year: Russia's Natalia Ishchenko. Story Nov. 25. Open Water Swimmers of the Year. Germany's Thomas Lurz, Great Britain's Keri-Anne Payne. Story Nov. 26. African Swimmers of the Year. Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry, Tunisia's Ous Mellouli, South Africa's Cameron van der Burgh. Story Nov. 27. Pacific Rim Swimmers of the Year. Australia's Jessicah Schipper, China's Zhang Lin. Story Nov. 28. European Swimmers of the Year. Italy's Federica Pellegrini, Germany's Paul Biedermann. Story Nov. 29. American Swimmers of the Year. USA's Michael Phelps, USA's Ariana Kukors, USA's Rebecca Soni. Story Nov. 30. Swimmers Choice Swimmers of the Year. Brazil's Cesar Cielo, Italy's Federica Pellegrini. Story
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December 2009 Issue Contents of The December issue:
7 10 BEST PERFORMANCES OF 2009 by John Lohn
10 2009 WORLD BEST BY EVENT by Bob Ingram
12 WORLD SWIMMERS OF THE YEAR: Federica Pellegrini and Michael Phelps
14 FEMALE AMERICAN SWIMMERS OF THE YEAR: Ariana Kukors and Rebecca Soni
15 MALE EUROPEAN SWIMMER OF THE YEAR: Paul Biedermann
16 PACIFIC RIM SWIMMERS OF THE YEAR:
Jessicah Schipper and Zhang Lin
18 AFRICAN SWIMMERS OF THE YEAR:
Kirsty Coventry, Ous Mellouli and Cameron van der Burgh
20 OPEN WATER SWIMMERS OF THE YEAR:
Keri-Anne Payne and Thomas Lurz
22 WATER POLO PLAYERS OF THE YEAR:
Betsey Armstrong and Andrija Prlainovic
24 SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMER OF THE YEAR:
Natalia Ishchenko
25 DIVERS OF THE YEAR: Guo Jingjing and Qin Kai
26 CELEBRATING 50+ YEARS IN AQUATICS: 2001-08 by Jeff Commings
As we celebrate 50+ years in aquatics, Swimming World Magazine will be taking a trip through history, highlighting some of the top moments of the magazine's existence.
28 THEN AND NOW by Jeff Commings
Mark Spitz and Michael Phelps, two of the greatest swimmers of all time, shared that extra something called "The X-Factor."
56 WORLD AND AMERICAN RECORD PROGRESSION
DEPARTMENTS:
6 A VOICE for the SPORT
30 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
54 FOR THE RECORD
59 CALENDAR
62 PARTING SHOT
In the Swimming Technique portion of the magazine you will find the following: 40 Q&A WITH COACHES DAVE AND BOB HAUCK OF ST. OLAF COLLEGE
by Michael J. Stott
42 BOOK REVIEW: "Swimming Anatomy" by Ian McLeod reviewed by Michael J. Stott
44 HOW THEY TRAIN: Nelson Westby, St. Olaf by Michael J. Stott
In the SWIM portion of the magazine you will find the following:
36 THE POOL'S EDGE: Train Like a Swimmer! by Karlyn Pipes-Neilsen
Here are nine tips for triathletes to help improve their performance.
37 LANE LEADERS: Kristin Gary
38 DRYSIDE TRAINING: Getting Off the Blocks...FASTER! by J.R. Rosania
In the Junior Swimmer portion of the magazine you will find the following: 45 NATIONAL AGE GROUP RECORD SETTER: Olivia Anderson, Aquajets Swim Club
47 AMERICAN RELAY by Judy Jacob
48 TYR AGE GROUP SWIMMER OF THE MONTH:
Sara Giberson, Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics
49 GOLDMINDS: Holiday Training—Taking a Break from Taking a Break
by Wayne Goldsmith
Reaction Time responses do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Swimming World Magazine or SwimmingWorldMagazine.com.
Reaction Time is provided as a service to our readers.
December 1, 2009 Why is Jessica Hardy ranked number 5 on the World Swimmer list when she's only ranked number 4 on the American Swimmer list? It makes absolutely no sense. Submitted by: misere
December 1, 2009 I was waiting for someone to mention that! *grin*
It actually makes a lot of sense when you understand how the voting works. This happens almost all the time in our rankings. Our panelists are asked to rank their top swimmers in each category, including World and American separately.
Hardy's top five ranking happened like this:
Out of our 20 panelists, some of them really were impressed by her performance this year. So, not only did they vote her as American Swimmer of the Year, they voted her in the top five in the World.
However, the bulk of the voters that chose Ariana Kukors or Rebecca Soni as American Swimmer of the Year were not as impressed with them in comparison with the rest of the world. So, they were not voted in the top five in the world.
This happened in a much less striking way the last few years if you look at the rankings carefully.
Thanks for the question! Submitted by: Jason Marsteller
Reaction Time responses do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Swimming World Magazine or SwimmingWorldMagazine.com.
Reaction Time is provided as a service to our readers.
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