The list of the FINA 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)
Chad Le Clos (RSA) and Katinka Hosszu (HUN) - Photo credit: Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia
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
Liu Huixia (CHN) - Photo credit: Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia
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)
Rachelle Simpson (USA) and Orlando Duque (COL) - Photo credit: Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia
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
Huang Xuechen (CHN) - Photo credit: Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia
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)
Ana Marcela Cunha (BRA) - Photo credit: Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia
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
Filip Filipovic (SRB) and Maggie Steffens (USA) - Photo credit: Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia
Some of these athletes’ coaches were also present in the Doha and received a FINA Coaches Achievement Award. Also for the first time, a FINA World Journalist Award was presented to Alan Abrahamson for his contribution to raise FINA's image. Mr. Abrahamson is the author of a biography on Michael Phelps, the best swimmer and Olympian in history.
In this magical evening, FINA was honoured with the presence of Sheik Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, the ANOC (Association of National Olympic Committees) President, who received the highest FINA award, the FINA Prize.
Before the start of the show, including musical and dancing performances, the FINA President Dr. Julio C. Maglione highlighted the importance of this moment. “As you know, we are choosing for the last years the Best Athletes of our disciplines, but no formal ceremony was organised to publicly recognise their effort and talent”, he considered. “Therefore, this is why we are here tonight! To express our deepest recognition and appreciation for what these brilliant athletes are doing to raise and consolidate FINA's image and the value of our Sport”, he concluded.