Since 2008 LEN has been recognizing its best athletes in the respective aquatic disciplines based on votes casted by the National Federations and members of the various LEN committees and panels. Here are the 2018 winners:
Photo Courtesy: Deepbluemedia/Giorgio Scala
Swimming
Men: Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS) • Women: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE)
Diving
Men: Jack Laugher (GBR) • Women: Celine van Duijn (NED)
Artistic swimming
Women: Svetlana Kolesnichenko (RUS) • Men: Giorgio Minisini (ITA)
Open water swimming
Men: Kristof Rasovszky (HUN) • Women: Sharon van Rouwendaal (NED)
Water polo
Men: Filip Filipovic (SRB) • Women: Sabrina van der Sloot (NED)
“European athletes enjoyed another outstanding year and offered superb performances wherever they competed” LEN president Paolo Barelli said. “For European Aquatics certainly the European Championships were the absolute highlights of the year and the results achieved in Glasgow had a big impact on our prestigious awards. Let me congratulate all winners and all the others appearing on the shortlists, they deserve every credit for their determination and excellence. LEN shall maintain to keep the athletes in its focus and to create the best racing environment any time, anywhere at our events.”
On this 11th occasion there have been a couple of tight ‘races’, a single vote decided the outcome in men’s artistic swimming and women’s water polo and there were minor differences in the contests in men’s swimming, in diving and in men’s open water swimming.
There were a couple of returning champions, Serbia’s Filip Filipovic clinched his fourth award among the men’s water polo players while the hero of the women’s open water meet in Glasgow Sharon van Rouwendaal from the Netherlands came first for the third time. Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom (women’s swimming), artistic swimmers Svetlana Kolesnichenko (RUS) and Giorgio Minisini (ITA) all repeated their respective victories from last year, while British diver Jack Laugher won for the second time after 2016.
Four names are to be carved onto the sculptures for the first time: Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS, swimming), Celine van Duijn (NED, diving), Kristof Rasovszky (HUN, open water) and Sabrine van der Sloot (NED, water polo).
Voting
Swimming, men
Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS) 44.0%
Adam Peaty (GBR) 36.0%
Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR) 8.0%
Andriy Govorov (UKR) 6.7%
Florian Wellbrock (GER) 4.0%
Jeremy Desplanches (SUI) 1.3%
Swimming, women
Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) 45.3%
Katinka Hosszu (HUN) 28.0%
Simona Quadarella (ITA) 10.7%
Charlotte Bonnet (FRA) 8.0%
Yulia Efimova (RUS) 8.0%
Diving, men
Jack Laugher (GBR) 49.3%
Aleksandr Bondar (RUS) 40.6%
Evgeny Kuznetsov (RUS) 4.3%
Nikita Shleikher (RUS) 4.3%
Ilya Zakharov (RUS) 1.4%
Diving, women
Celine van Duijn (NED) 24.3%
Elena Bertocchi (ITA) 20.0%
Grace Reid (GBR) 18.6%
Tina Punzel (GER) 18.6%
Yulia Timoshinina (RUS) 18.6%
Artistic (Synchronised) Swimming, Women
Svetlana Kolesnichenko (RUS) 63.8%
Linda Cerruti (ITA) 21.7%
Yelizaveta Yakhno (UKR) 14.5%
Artistic (Synchronised) Swimming, Men
Giorgio Minisini (ITA) 47.7%
Aleksandr Maltsev (RUS) 46.2%
Pau Ribes (ESP) 6.2%
Open water swimming, men
Kristof Rasovszky (HUN) 47.2%
Ferry Weertman (NED) 40.3%
Matteo Furlan (ITA) 9.7%
Kiril Belyaev (RUS) 1.4%
Axel Reymond (FRA) 1.4%
Open water swimming, women
Sharon van Rouwendaal (NED) 73.6%
Arianna Bridi (ITA) 11.1%
Rachele Bruni (ITA) 6.9%
Leonie Beck (GER) 5.6%
Lara Grangeon (FRA) 2.8%
Water polo, men
Filip Filipovic (SRB) 46.3%
Dani Lopez (ESP) 17.9%
Ioannis Fountoulis (GRE) 16.4%
Aleksandar Ivovic (MNE) 13.4%
Andro Buslje (CRO) 6.0%
Water polo, women
Sabrina van der Sloot (NED) 33.8%
Laura Aarts (NED) 32.3%
Ekaterina Prokofyeva (RUS) 13.8%
Beatriz Ortiz (ESP) 12.3%
Alexandra Asimaki (GRE) 7.7%
— The above press release was posted by Swimming World in conjunction with LEN. For press releases and advertising inquiries please contact Advertising@SwimmingWorld.com.