Following her historic gold medal-winning swim at the 12th FINA World Short-Course Championship in Doha, Qatar last year, Alia Atkinson is in pole position to be voted the RJR Sport Foundation People’s Choice Performance of the Year.

Atkinson became the first black woman to win a world swimming title, when she swam a scintillating 1:02.36 minutes in the 100-metre breaststroke, equalling the record set by Lithuanian Ruta Meilutyte in 2013.

The joint record holder is the only female nominated for the People’s Choice Performance of the Year Award. Nicholas Walters (boxing), Jaheel Hyde (athletics), Kemar Lawrence (football), Andre Russell (cricket) and Andrew Gutzmore (football) are the other nominees.

Atkinson has also been nominated for the Sportswoman of the Year Award for the sixth time. She is up against four track and field athletes in Kaliese Spencer, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Stephanie McPherson, Veronica Campbell-Brown, and triple jumper Kimberly Williams. Cricketer Stafanie Taylor is the other nominee in the women’s section.

Called the ‘Darling of the Pool’, the 26-year-old qualified for her first Olympic Games at the age of 15 years old and has not looked back since. She has exploited her prowess at the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 2004; Beijing, China in 2008 and London, England in 2012.

To her credit, she currently holds eight Jamaican national swimming records.

Having embarked on a mission to place Jamaica on the world map of swimming, and to agitate for the improvement of the infrastructural support for swimming in Jamaica to take it to the next level, Atkinson expressed pride at her nomination.

“It’s a signal of honour, one which I am very proud of, as it denotes that I am still performing at high standards. Further being recognised in such a manner bodes well for swimming in Jamaica.

“It helps to keep swimming on the map and hopefully will provide the impetus necessary for others to enter swimming and succeed. So it does not matter whether I win or not, it’s about the sport one represents and to a lesser extent the individual,” she said.

The sensational swimmer had earlier signalled her intentions during her FINA/MASTBANK World Cup campaign in August, a meet which she highlighted with some creditable performances.

But the historic moment for the Chris Anderson-coached swimmer came on December 6 when Atkinson relentlessly chased down Meilutyte before out-touching her 17-year-old opponent by 0.10 seconds.

“I was astonished when the results came: Alia Atkinson first. For a moment or two before, I was thinking, oh no, second again like in the 50-m breaststroke.

“But it was Alia Atkinson first and then the joy and all the other emotions associated with victory came out. It was a signal moment, not only in my career, but in my life. A moment one can never, ever forget,” she noted.

The decorated swimmer pointed out that it took hard work and commitment over the years to finally attain this feat.

“Let me stress that it takes a lot of work, in fact very hard work, mixed with very heavy doses of patience. I have had disappointments, I have had some good results and it all came together in just over a minute in Doha,” Atkinson said.

“Now I have to take a rest. The season is over and will start again in February 2015 with the US Grand Prix races. But for now it is rest, rest and more rest,” she added.