Harare — BARELY a week after she was crowned the Female African Swimmer of the Year for 2009, Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry has received another feather in her cap.

The 26-year-old Zimbabwean swimming icon was on Tuesday named among the Top Five World Female Swimmers of the Year for 2009 by the well-respected United States-based magazine -- Swimming World Magazine.

In its final annual awards, which were released from Phoenix in Arizona, United States, on Tuesday, Swimming World Magazine picked Coventry as the world's third-best female swimmer of the year.

The magazine named Italy's Federica Pellegrini as the World Female of the Year ahead of Germany's Britta Steffen, who was placed second, and Coventry.

In fact, Swimming World Magazine named Pellegrini and Michael Phelps of the United States the World Swimmers of the Year, with the latter scooping the men's top accolade.

Pellegrini became the first Italian to win a World Swimmer of the Year award from Swimming World Magazine in a close vote over Steffen for the women's top prize.

This came after the Italian put together a fine show in front of her home country at the Fina World Championships held in Rome in August this year.

At the World Championships, Pellegrini shattered world records in the women's 200 and 400-metre freestyles to earn her spot atop the heap this year. At the World Championships in Rome on July 31 this year, Pellegrini became the first woman ever to breach the 4-minute barrier in 400m freestyle with the time of 3:59.15.

Pellegrini is the first female Olympic champion in the history of Italian swimming; she is also the only Italian swimmer to have set world records in more than one event.

The first runner-up for the 2009 World Female of the Year award, Steffen, is a German swimmer who also specialises in freestyle and is the current holder of the world record in women's 50 and 100-metre freestyle.

Zimbabwe's Coventry was placed third in the annual awards after she set a new world record in the women's 200m backstroke event at the same World Championships in Rome in August. In Rome, the 2004 and 2008 Olympic champion set the world's 200m backstroke record on fire when winning a gold medal in 2 minutes 04.81 seconds.