By Wendy Mayer on SwimSwam
Total Water Polo announced its award winners for the 2019 season with USA goalkeeper Ashleigh Johnson and Hungarian driver Denes Varga earning the Total Player Awards.
Johnson was one of five Americans who made Total Water Polo’s Top 10 list of female players.
Varga headlines the Top 10 list of male players, which also includes two Italians and two Czechs.
The Total Player Award winners were selected by a panel of 60 expert voters, 18 media outlets and 10,000 votes from the general public.
Johnson, a Miami, Florida native, was named MVP of the 2019 FINA World Championships, tallying 43 saves as she led Team USA to the gold medal. She also chalked up 42 saves at the 2019 Pan American Games.
Hungarian Rita Keszthelyi was the runnerup in the voting. Keszthelyi racked up 24 goals, while leading her team to a fourth place finish at the FINA World Championships.
| Name, Country | Points |
| Ashleigh Johnson, USA | 121 |
| Rita Keszthelyi, Hungary | 84 |
| Roser Tarrago, Spain | 82 |
| Maggie Steffens, USA | 77 |
| Maddie Musselman, USA | 61 |
| Maica Garcia Godoy, Spain | 50 |
| Kiley Neushul, USA | 35 |
| Maud Megens, Netherlands | 34 |
| Ekaterina Prokofyeva, Czech Republic | 32 |
| Rachel Fattal, USA | 20 |
Varga, who played for the fourth place Hungarian team at the FINA World Championships and was part of Ferencvaros’ LEN Champions League and LEN Super Cup title winning squads, earned the Total Water Polo top men’s award. Ferencvaros topped Olympiacos in a penalty shootout to take the Champions League, and defeated CN Marseille 14-11 to win the Super Cup.
Varga finished eight points ahead of FINA World Championship MVP Francesco Di Fulvio of Italy in the Total Water Polo awards voting.
| Name, Country | Points |
| Denes Varga, Hungary | 159 |
| Francesco Di Fulvio, Italy | 151 |
| Felipe Perrone, Spain | 58 |
| Marco Del Lungo, Italy | 50 |
| Maro Jokovic, Croatia | 49 |
| Aleksandar Ivovic, Montenegro | 44 |
| Filip Filipovic, Serbia | 37 |
| Dusan Mandic, Serbia | 36 |
| Konstantinos Genidounias, Greece | 33 |
| Daniel Lopez Pinedo, Spain | 23 |
Read the full story on SwimSwam: USA’s Johnson, Hungary’s Varga Win Total Water Polo Top Awards