PHOENIX, Arizona, November 27. SWIMMING World is closing in on announcing the World Swimmers of the Year on December 1. Today, we reveal the winners of the 2009 Pacific Rim Swimmers of the Year award as announced in the December issue.
The Female Pacific Rim Swimmer of the Year award went to Jessicah Schipper. She kept the award where it has remained since 1997 – in Australia. Only once since the awards creation in 1995 has it gone to someone outside of Australia (China's Le Jingyi in 1996 for those trivia buffs out there). Schipper had a tremendous year including a gold medal in the 200 fly at the World Championships in Rome. She also earned a silver in the 100 fly.
Top Five Female Pacific Rim Swimmers of the Year
1. JESSICAH SCHIPPER, Australia
2. Zhao Jing, China
3. Stephanie Rice, Australia
4. Libby Trickett, Australia
5. Melissa Gorman, Australia
China's Zhang Lin emerged from a heated vote for Male Pacific Rim Swimmer of the Year. After setting his first world record with a world title in the 800 free at the World Championships, Zhang could not be denied the honor. He also won a bronze medal in the 400 free in Rome. After Le Jingyi in 1996, Zhang is just the second swimmer from China to win a regional award.
Top Five Male Pacific Rim Swimmers of the Year
1. ZHANG LIN, China
2. Brenton Rickard, Australia
3. Junya Koga, Japan
4. Ryosuke Irie, Japan
5. Christian Sprenger, Australia
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