Oussama Mellouli

From Openwaterpedia

Oussama "Ous" Mellouli (Arabic: أسامة الملولي‎; born February 16, 1984) is a retired Tunisian swimmer and a two-time Olympic champion who competes not only in the freestyle and medley races in the pool, but also in open water swims. The Crossover Athlete currently trains with the Trojan Swim Club at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. He is coached by Dave Salo and Catherine Vogt at the University of Southern California where he went to school and competed.

Mellouli became the 1500m freestyle world champion at the 2009 World Swimming Championships with a winning time of 14:37:28, second best performance of all time. Mellouli is also the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the 1500m freestyle with a dramatic victory over Grant Hackett and a star-studded field at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. He also swam to a bronze-medal finish in the 1500m freestyle in the 2012 London Olympic Games.

He has also competed in the RCP Tiburon Mile in San Francisco, California several times and in the FINA 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup in Cancun, Mexico.

In 2012 he won the 2012 FINA Olympic 10km Marathon Swimming Qualifier in Setubal Bay, Portugal. He won the Olympic 10km Marathon Swim at the 2012 London Olympics in 1 hour 49 minutes.

Contents 1 Awards 2 2012 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year Nomination 3 2012 Olympic 10K Marathon Swim Results 4 External links

Awards

In 2012, Mellouli was awarded the Swimming World Magazine Male Open Water Swimmer of the Year and the Swammy Award for the Open Water Swimmer of the Year. He was also selected as the FINA Open Water Swimming Athlete of the Year for 2012.

2012 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year Nomination

Mellouli was nominated for the 2012 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year award. His World Open Water Swimming Association nomination reads,

Oussama Mellouli has proven himself to be one of the most versatile, powerful, graceful swimmers in the open water since Johnny Weissmuller in the 1920s. Similar to the famed Tarzan of yesteryear, Mellouli has demonstrated his speed, strength and stamina in both the pool and open water. A gold and bronze medalist in the 1500m in the pool in London and Beijing, the personable multi-lingual Tunisian was even more heroic in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in Hyde Park. Mellouli was not afraid to take control of the race in the Serpentine despite his relative inexperience. He had sufficient confident in his training and racing strategy to bolt into the lead at key points during the 10K. And when he accelerated towards the end, there was no one in the world who could keep up. For his impressively fast Olympic 10K marathon performance, for his willingness to step out of his comfort zone in the pool and try open water swimming, for his daily sacrifices that ultimately led to his Olympic medals, Oussama Mellouli is a worthy nominee for the 2012 WOWSA Open Water Swimming Man of the Year.

2012 Olympic 10K Marathon Swim Results

1. Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia - 1:49:55.1
2. Thomas Lurz of Germany - 1:49:58.5
3. Richard Weinberger of Canada - 1:50:00.3
4. Spyridon Gianniotis of Greece - 1:50:05.3
5. Daniel Fogg of Great Britain - 1:50:37.3
6. Sergey Bolshakov of Russia - 1:50:40.1
7. Vladimir Dyatchin of Russia - 1:50:42.8
8. Andreas Waschburger of Germany - 1:50:44.4
9. Petar Stoychev of Bulgaria - 1:50:46.2
10. Alex Meyer of the USA - 1:50:48.2
11. Julien Sauvage of France - 1:50:51.3
12. Troyden Prinsloo of South Africa - 1:50:52.9
13. Erwin Maldonado of Venezuela - 1:50:52.9
14. Igor Chervynskiy of Ukraine - 1:50:56.9
15. Yasunari Hirai of Japan - 1:51:20.1
16. Brian Ryckeman of Belgium - 1:51:27.1
17. Valerio Cleri of Italy - 1:51:29.5
18. Csaba Gercsak of Hungary - 1:51:30.9
19. Arseniy Lavrentyev of Portugal - 1:51:37.2
20. Ky Hurst of Australia - 1:51:41.3
21. Ivan Enderica Ochoa of Ecuador - 1:52:28.6
22. Yuriy Kudinov of Kazakhstan - 1:52:59.0
23. Francisco Jose Hervas of Spain - 1:53:27.8
24. Mazen Aziz Metwaly of Egypt - 1:54:33.2
25. Benjamin Schulte of Guam - 2:03:35.1

External links

• 2012 Olympic Marathon Swimming 10km Coverage
• Ous Mellouli website
• 2012 Olympic Marathon Swimming - Male Medal Contenders
• Trojan Swim Club website
• RCP Tiburon Mile website
• Open Water Swimming website
• 2012 London Olympics - The Men of Open Water Swimming
• 34 Countries on 5 Continents in London Olympics
• Ous Mellouli Ends The Olympics With Another Honor
• The Winning Strategy Of Olympic Champion Ous Mellouli
• Gold Medal Strategies At The Olympic Marathon Swim
• Surprises And The Future Of Olympic Marathon Swimming
• Tunisian Triumphs, Ous Mellouli Swims Brilliantly
• Ous Mellouli Wins The Olympic Marathon Swim
• How Fast Did Ous Mellouli, Thomas Lurz Swim In London?
• Triathletes And Runners Comment On Ous Mellouli
• World Open Water Swimming Association
• Oussama Mellouli, Olympic Champion
• Déjà Vu For Trent Grimsey And Ous Mellouli
• Ous Mellouli Turning Injuries And Pressure Into Olympic Gold
• The Time Is Now, The Choice Is Yours
• FINA Open Water Swimming Athletes of the Year
• 30 Open Water Swimmers Known By One Name
• Now That Looks Like Fun
• He's Baaaackkkkk. The World Versus Ous