I have to agree with the writer of the article.  I don't think that that image is prize-worthy.  I went and looked through the gallery linked by MGD first, to get my own impressions of the image without reading what the author thought.

My opinion?  I've spent a lot of time the last couple of months studying up on how to take good portraits, and I do understand that in certain cases, rules can be broken.  This does not come close.  The children are not the main subject.  They look very uncomfortable.  The lighting is poor.  The BG adds nothing to the image.  The cones, while by dint of color associate themselves with the younger boys flippers, add absolutely nothing to this shot.  The doorknob on the far right of the frame is a distraction.  The use of the edge of the pool as leading lines directing your eyes towards the children does work and was used well.  (Although, its really kind of sad that that is the only good thing that I can say about the photograph as a whole.)

When I look at the image, I ask myself what the point of the photo is, and I just can't figure it out.  What is the subject of this photo?  Is it the kids?  The pool?  The austere background?  The cones (they are the point of highest contrast in the shot)?  Everything in the shot is given equal weight (even the distracting doorknob).  If everything in the shot has equal weight, then everything is supposed to be important, which means that nothing is. 

Are the cones there to represent that they are in a construction zone?  If so, why was that not made more apparent?  Is it the pool in unusual circumstances (a plain white room with a couple of cones in it)?  The kids in an unusual room with a pool in it?

I personally do not get this image, nor do I understand how this shows a father's love for his children, and I would also have deleted it from my memory card if I had shot it.  If this is what an award-winning portrait looks like, then maybe I should stop now, 'cause I don't get it.

My opinion; this shot that I took of a little girl having fun at an event at the local mall is a much better shot than that one.

Thanks for reading my two cents.

Mike