2014 Swammy Awards: Female Central American and Caribbean Swimmer of the Year

Editor’s note: for this particular geographical definition, we’re cutting South America off beneath Panama, and are counting the Caribbean as everything not the United States, Canada, or mainland South America (or its property). This means that Colombia and Venezuela, who compete at the CAC Games, are considered in South America.

To see all of the 2014 Swammy Award winners, presented by TYR, click here.

2014 Female Central American and Caribbean Swimmer of the Year: Alia Atkinson, Jamaica

After winning World Championship gold and tying the World Record in the 100 short course meters breaststroke last week in Doha, Qatar, Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson had a look of pure surprise.

That surprise, by-and-large, was reflected back to Atkinson in the 48 hours that followed, as the world’s non-swimmers lay somewhere between bemusement and genuine surprise, and cheap jokes flew, that yes, black people can swim (not a surprise to anyone who’s followed the sport in the last 25 years).

The reality is that Atkinson’s surprise was perhaps more modesty, from a swimmer known to be well-versed in it, than any real surprise; and while her race is a piece of the story of this gold medal, it’s not a surprising piece, rather it’s a momentous piece, marking the breaking of a mythical and unnecessary

Race is a piece of this story, but as the world clung to that, they missed the most interesting story. the journey that Atkinson took that took to earn that World Championship, which is an incredibly fascinating one.

Atkinson made her big breakthrough at Texas A&M when as a senior in 2010 she won the 200 yard breaststroke NCAA title. That title was one earned based heavily on the strength of her underwater pullouts – and her strength in general.

When she transitioned to life as a professional swimmer, she moved back home to Florida, and began focusing heavily on the 100 breaststroke – which led her to a 4th-place finish at the 2012 Summer Olympics – a near medal for a country that’s had only three finals swims in Olympic history.

After that taste of success, Atkinson pushed forward for the two years after to race. She was one of a handful of swimmers who jumped in full-bore to the FINA World Cup Series, and in 2013 and 2014, she carved out a nice career with herself through the sprint breaststrokes and IM races, including winning 12 out of the 15 100 breaststrokes in the last two seasons.

Time-and-time again, Atkinson was knocking on the door of World Records in this 100 breaststroke. In 2013, she was 6-tenths away. In 2014, she first moved that to half-a-second, and then with a 1:02.54 at the series’ last stop in Singapore, she moved within just two narrow tenths.

In Doha, though, the biggest obstacle in the world was the obstacle that lied in her way: the long course World Record holder, the short course World Record holder, the Olympic Champion, the European Champion, Ruta Meilutyte.

Not only did Atkinson get to the wall a tenth of a second ahead of Meilutyte, she tied her World Record with a 1:02.36.

Add to that a silver in the 50 breaststroke at the same meet, 12 FINA World Cup Series event victories, and a third-place overall finish at the FINA World Cup Series, Atkinson is a no-brainer for this year’s Swammy, even without having participated in the year’s premier event: the Central American and Caribbean Games.

Honorable Mentions:

• Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, Bahamas – Vanderpool-Wallace was dominant at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games, winning four gold medals, and added to that a silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the 50 fly.
• Maria Fernanda Gonzalez, Mexico – Gonzalez led the Mxican team with 5 medals at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games, including a gold-medal sweep in the 50, 100, and 200 meter backstroke individually, plus the 400 free and medley relays.