Today a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame will vote for the Total Player Award in female category.
Alexandr Kabanov, KINEF-Surgutneftegas coach, was a very successful water polo player. Kabanov won two gold medals at the Olympic Games (1972 and 1980), gold at the World Championships in 1975 and 1982, and a lot of medals in other competitions.
After retirement as an athlete in 1985, he started to work as a head coach. Firstly, he was an assistant coach in the USSR national team, before he became the head coach of the Russian male team (1994 – 96). He coached the team at three Olympic Games, winning two bronze medals (1988,1992); three World Championships, winning three bronze medals (1986,1991, 1994); five European Championships, winning two gold medals (1985,1987…)
He was the head coach of the Russian female national team three years (2009 – 2012), while he has been leading the best Russian female water polo team KINEF since 2016. The Kirishi-based team has won 17 consecutive titles in the national league in a row since 2003. KINEF was the European champion twice, while it finished 3rd in the 2019 LEN Trophy.
Alexandr Kabanov’s Total 5 for 2019
1st – Ekaterina Prokofyeva
Russian National Player | Club: KINEF-Surgutneftegaz Kirishi | Position: Driver
“Prokofyeva is a true leader both in the Russian national team and in KINEF.”
2nd – Ashleigh Johnson
USA National Player | Club: Vouliagmeni | Position: Goalkeeper
“Without any doubt, she is the best goalkeeper in the world at the moment”
3rd – Maica Garcia Godoy
Spanish National Player | Club: CN Sabadell | Position: Centre Forward
“She is an excellent centre. In 2019, she won the Euro League with the club and silver with the national team at the World Championships.”
4th -Rita Keszthelyi
Hungarian National Player | Club: UVSE Budapest | Position: Driver/Wing
“The best scorer of the World Championships. She has a very strong shot.”
5th – Maud Megens
Dutch National Player | Club: USC | Position: Field player
“She played excellently throughout the summer season, especially in the LEN Europa Cup, in which the Netherlands won gold.”
Check out the other votes so far and cast your own on the official Total Waterpolo Player 2019 page.
