PR 100 - FINA awards its Athletes of the Year 2014

Lausanne (SUI), December 1, 2014 - The FINA Athletes of the Year 2014 were unveiled on December 1, 2014 in Doha (QAT) in a memorable Gala “Soirée des Etoiles” (Evening of the Stars), held after a successful two-day FINA World Aquatics Convention and FINA Swimming Coaches Golden Clinic. Less than two days before the start of the 12th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) also being held in the Qatari capital from December 3-7, the Aquatics Family paid a sincere tribute to its great stars in the six aquatic disciplines.

The list of the Best Athletes of the Year includes:

SWIMMING MEN
Chad Le Clos (RSA)
-    Winner of the 2014 FINA/MASTBANK Swimming World Cup (collecting 27 gold medals in the series)
-    2x Commonwealth Games champion (100m fly, 200m fly)
-    2x Commonwealth Games bronze medallist (50m fly, 200m IM)

SWIMMING WOMEN
Katinka Hosszu (HUN)
-    Winner of the 2014 FINA/MASTBANK Swimming World Cup (collecting 68 medals in the series)
-    5 WR in 25m-pool: 2x 100m IM, 2x 200m IM, 1x 400m IM
-    6 medals at the European Championships

DIVING MEN
Cao Yuan (CHN)
-    Winner of the FINA World Cup (3m synchro, 10m synchro)
-    World Cup silver medallist (3m springboard)
-    Winner of overall FINA World Series (3m synchro, 10m synchro)
-    2x Asian Games gold medallist

DIVING WOMEN
Liu Huixia (CHN)
-    Winner of the FINA World Cup (10m synchro)
-    World Cup silver medallist (10m platform)
-    Winner of overall FINA World Series (10m and 10m synchro)
-    1x Asian Games gold medallist

HIGH DIVING MEN
Orlando Duque (COL)
-    Winner of the FINA World Cup
-    4th Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series (2x medallist)

HIGH DIVING WOMEN
Rachelle Simpson (USA)
-    Winner of the FINA World Cup
-    Winner of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series (3x gold medallist)

SYNCHRONISED SWIMMING
Huang Xuechen (CHN)
-    Winner of the FINA World Cup (duet, team and free combination)
-    3x Asian Games gold medallist

OPEN WATER SWIMMING MEN
Allan do Carmo (BRA)
-    Winner of overall 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup (winner of two races in the series)

OPEN WATER SWIMMING WOMEN
Ana Marcela Cunha (BRA)
-    Winner of overall 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup (winner of five races in the series; medallist in all eight races)

WATER POLO MEN
Filip Filipovic (SRB)
-    World League winner
-    European champion
-    Champions League silver medallist

WATER POLO WOMEN
Maggie Steffens (USA)
-    World League winner (MVP of Super Final)
-    Winner of World Cup