World Open water Swimmer of the year - Vote Irish!!!!

promethius

Anne Marie Ward this year swam the infamous north channel, ie ireland to scotland which is many times harder than the english channel swim and joined a group of only ten to do it. She's in the running for world open water swimmer of the year, she's currently 3rd but i think boards can help push her into a winning position, one vote per computer (not person!!!)

Send this on to as many people as you can

Link for voting below

many thanks

http://www.openwatersource.com/vote-for-the-world-open-water-swimming-woman-of-the-year.html

airscotty

Done! Its also posted on the AK facebook site.

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/profile.php?id=100000564978083

promethius

thanks scotty she is gaining on 2nd and third but still needs a lot of votes so anyone who didn't vote please do! You can vote once per computer so we can log more than one vote per person and give her the recognition she deserves, she is gaining while the others are losing momentum so every vote counts!!

mjon3105

Here is a link to an article I wrote for SportsNewsIreland on the subject.
So how about ALL Boards.ie subscribers VOTING for AnneMarie on the link in first post and also included in my article.

At the time of this note A-M is indeed in First place but remember that last year the Brazilian that won then got a huge number of 'last minute' votes so no "assuming" that she is 'home and dry' . EVERY vote counts until the last minutes of 31 December. Ireland is a much , much smaller Nation (as we all know ) so let us show them that though we may not be able to beat them at Football or Beach Volleyball , we can do in Open Water Swimming!

(Their representative is a Professional - Anne Marie is an amazing 44 yrs old 'amateur' with NO sponsorship and no Irish Sports Council funding so the £4,000 plus that it costs to maintain a team for such a swim is all out of 'donations' from family, friends and local supporters. Why the mainstream media do not cover this story remains to me, a mystery.

Sad isn't it that Anne Marie may not appear in any of the Irish sports stars of the year shortlists (or long lists!) yet here she is at No 1 in the World lists. But then female sports stars in Ireland (and in UK) get very little media coverage... just look how many years it was before a Katie Taylor fight appeared on RTE and even then her THIRD World title was NOT covered LIVE (other than online).


Article link here which includes a lovely blog by Nuala Moore.,a Dingle open water swimmer and member of the team when they competed in teh "Round ireland" event. The first time that any swim round a whole country has been registered in world swimming records.
Every sports fan in Ireland - even if they know little or nothing about the perils and pitfalls of Long Distance Open Water swimming should read these blogs then VOTE for the courageous AnneMarie Ward. from Portnablagh in North Donegal.


http://www.sportsnewsireland.com/2010/12/18/open-water-swimming-annemarie-ward-the-remarkable-story-of-an-irish-swimming-heroine/

promethius

:-)

mjon3105

.... extracts from an Interview I did with Anne Marie Ward earlier this morning for the europeanirish.com website.....


by Michael O'Neill


"Honoured - humbled - gobsmacked -a little surreal - fantastic for OpenWater Swimming - fantastic for Donegal" that was the immediate reaction of Anne Marie Ward, the 44 years old from Portnablagh, in Donegal, on hearing that she has been voted the 2010 World Open Water Swimmer of the Year


Speaking with EuropeanIrish.com she said she had been deeply honoured even to be on the short list in the company of so many greats in the world of open water swimming as Brazil's Ana Marcela Cunha ( 5th in the Beijing Olympics and one of the medal favourites for the 2012 London games and the current FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup titleholder) , World & European record holder, Lynsey Heister of The Netherlands , Eva Fabian (World 5km titleholder) of the United States and Britain's Jackie Cobell, the British endurance athlete who had overcome so many injuries and setbacks yet joined the exclusive English Channel's Half Century Club recently and like Anne Marie, an amateur, without sponsorship or sports funding.

Open Water Swimming guru Steve Munatones of the United States announced the results via Twitter in the early hours of this morning with these comments :


"The North (Irish Channel" is renowned for being the toughest channel swim in the world - cold, rough, filled with jellyfish and fraught with unpredictable weather. But it was site to the tenacious efforts of one Irish women who never quit until she reached the other side.

Anne Marie Ward, an unlikely endurance heroine, joined one of the most elite and exclusive marathon swimming clubs in the world - the 11 members of the North Irish Channel club. Her never-say-never 18 hour and 59 minute effort - on her fourth attempt - courageously ended in darkness at 3:35 am.

With both the English Channel and North Channel under her belt, Anne Marie completely reversed her previously unhealthful lifestyle - an inspirational story in itself - and is now one of the world's most accomplished cold-water channel swimmers. Starting humbly and simply with a 2-mile charity swim, Anne Marie is now deservedly recognized by her peers and honored for reaching the pinnacle of her sport.

For her amazing swim between Ireland and Scotland her admirable lifestyle turnaround and dedication to charity swims, Anne Marie Ward was selected as the 2010 World Open Water Swimming Woman Of The Year.

Among the millions of female open water swimmers around the world, the 12 nominees clearly stood out - their exploits, histories and lifestyles are all incredibly inspirational for they overcame failures, obstacles and disappointments at some point in their swimming careers. But they forged on, positively and courageously. As the award is meant to symbolize, the nominees (1) embodied the spirit of open water swimming, (2) possess the sense of adventure, tenacity and perseverance that open water swimmers are known for, and (3) most positively influenced the world of open water swimming in 2010.

The final results of the 2010 vote were as follows:

1. Anne Marie Ward, Swimmer (Ireland) 47.36% (2,558 votes)
2. Ana Marcela Cunha, Swimmer (Brazil) 28.74% (1,552 votes)
3. Linsy Heister, Swimmer (Netherlands) 10.39% (561 votes)
4. Jackie Cobell, Swimmer (Great Britain) 3.43% (185 votes)
5. Barbara Held, Swimmer (USA) 3.35% (181 votes)
6. Penny Palfrey, Swimmer (Australia) 2.24% (121 votes)
7. Angela Maurer, Swimmer (Germany) 1.72% (93 votes)
8. Eva Fabian, Swimmer (USA) 0.7% (38 votes)
9. Freda Streeter, Coach/Motivator (Great Britain) 0.65% (35 votes)
10. Diana Nyad, Swimmer (USA) 0.63% (34 votes)
11. Sue Oldham, Swimmer (Australia) 0.5% (27 votes)
12. Mighty Mermaids, Swimmers (USA) 0.3% (16 votes)

(Copyright © 2010 by Open Water Source)



A tremendous feat then and yet a very modest Anne Marie reserved most of her praise for her team preferring to extoll their virtues . She also thanked , her Family and Friends and all her supporters,(including the many EuropeanIrish readers who voted for her ) , for their help during the years preparing for the actual swim and during the voting ) with these simple words of gratitude:

"I'd just like to thank everyone who supported me - thanks for the patience - three years of waiting for this (her North Channel swim achievement),perseverance when we went back several times.Thanks to the team who kept changing the plan until we got it right, thanks to my H.S.E work colleagues for all the support, for believing that we could do it. To the local newspapers who were great - that means a lot."

"This award is a huge recognition worldwide of what a group of people can achieve together - it's always about 'enjoying it' .Now all my team can have a year off!"


Tonight there will no doubt be more celebrations not only in Portnablagh and Dunfanaghy but throughout Donegal.

Meantime here in the words of her friend and Round Ireland team member Nuala Moore from Dingle is a detailed account of the achievement which has resulted in Anne Marie Ward being selected as the 2010 World Open Water Swimming Woman Of The Year.





http://theforceofnature-northchannelswimmer.blogspot.com/?spref=fb