Sharon van Rouwendaal has been named best female open water swimmer in the 2024 European Aquatics Athlete of the Year Awards, thus claiming the honour for a sixth time.
The 30-year-old Dutch athlete became the first swimmer, male or female, to win two Olympic 10k titles when she claimed gold at the Paris 2024 Games.
Van Rouwendaal, who had begun her year by winning the world 5km and 10km titles in Doha, finished 5.5sec clear in 2hr 03min 34.2sec, adding a second Olympic title to the one she gained at the Rio 2016 Games.
Having won silver at the Tokyo 2020 Games, van Rouwendaal also became the first athlete to claim three Olympic medals in female open water swimming.
The Dutch swimming idol secured her latest honour with a 48.22 per cent share of the total vote, having earned 55.81 per cent of federation votes and 30.51 per cent of the public vote.
Bronze at the Paris Games went to Italy’s 27-year-old Ginevra Taddeucci, who had prepared for the Olympics by taking two silvers – in the 5km race and the team event – at the European Aquatics Championships in Belgrade.
Taddeucci also finished third in the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup series.
Her exploits were rewarded by second place in the voting, with a total share of 19.51 per cent, comprising 16.28 per cent of the federation votes and 27.05 per cent of the public votes.
The European Aquatics Championships in Belgrade saw a golden double accomplished in the women’s 5km and 10km races by Germany’s Leonie Beck, who interrupted van Rouwendaal’s run of Award wins by taking the honours in 2023 after becoming world champion at both distances.
Beck held off Italy’s Barbara Pozzobon by 0.1sec to claim the 10km title before beating Taddeucci to gold in the 5km.
She finished third in the standings with a total percentage share of 16.93 after getting 16.28 per cent of federation votes and 18.48 per cent of the public vote.
In Doha van Rouwendaal had earned her 10km title by just 0.1sec from Spain’s 26-year-old Maria de Valdes, who thus added a second silver to her collection having finished second in the European 5km race in Rome two years earlier.
De Valdes took fourth place in the voting with a total percentage share of 9.27.
Fifth place went to Pozzobon, who despite the frustration of missing out so narrowly on European 10km title came away from Belgrade as the 25km gold medallist after holding off Germany’s Lea Boy and Candela Sanchez of Spain.