Members of the public have until October 9 to vote for the rower who they think has put in the best performances over the course of 2016 across a number of categories.

Rowers of the year will be crowned in the para-rowing, men’s crew, women’s crew and coach categories.

World Rowing will also awarded a Distinguished Service to Rowing Medal, given to a person who has dedicated a large period of their time to the sport.

One nomination can be made by the public for each award, while a crew can also represent an individual rower.

Following the closure of the nomination process, the FISA Council will review the submissions before drawing up a shortlist, which will then be passed on to the Executive Committee.

The FISA’s ruling Executive Committee will be responsible for choosing the five winners, who will then be presented with their award at a special ceremony at the 2016 World Rowing Coaches Conference gala dinner on January 28 in Vancouver, Canada.

British pair Helen Glover and Heather Stanning, who defended their women’s pairs title at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro last month, were named as the World Rowing Female Crew of the Year for 2015.

The men’s prize went to Frenchmen Jeremie Azou and Stany Delayre after they went through the season unbeaten.

Israel’s Moran Samuel scooped the 2015 World Para-rowing Crew of the Year prize, while Croatia’s Nikola Bralic landed the Coach of the Year prize for his work with brothers Valent and Martin Sinkovic.

The 2015 Distinguished Service to Rowing was given to Germany’s renowned boat builder Klaus Filter.