European Aquatics Athlete of the Year Awards 2025: women’s open water swimming nominees

European Aquatics has announced the nominees for the women’s open water swimming athlete of the year, with a five-strong list of the continent’s greatest representatives all earning their place on the shortlist, with your votes deciding who will take the award.

The shortlist brings together medallists from the World Aquatics Championships, continental champions and overall cup series winners, reflecting the breadth of achievement required to stand out in modern open water swimming.

Italy’s Ginevra Taddeucci features prominently after an exceptional year marked by sustained excellence across all of the aforementioned events. At the World Aquatics Championships, she collected an extraordinary four silver medals, finishing runner-up in the 3km knockout sprint, 5km, 10km and team event.

Her form continued on the European stage, where she claimed the continental 5km title and added team and 10km silver, before rounding off the season by securing the overall women’s crown in the World Aquatics Open Water Cup series.

Hungary’s Bettina Fabian is nominated following a breakthrough season that showcased her strength in both individual and relay events. She earned joint bronze in the 3km knockout sprint at the World Aquatics Championships and added another bronze as part of the Hungarian team.

On the European stage, Fabian reached the top step of the podium twice, in the same events. Although she has yet to break through in the longer distances, the recent additions of those new formats has given her an avenue for success in open water swimming, and she has grabbed it with both hands in 2025.

Lisa Pou of Monaco enjoyed a landmark year that combined championship success with sustained series performances. She secured a memorable bronze medal in the 10km at the World Aquatics Championships, delivering one of the standout results of her career.

That achievement was complemented by her overall victory in the European Aquatics Open Water Swimming Cup series, as she was one of the busiest swimmers this year – being a consistent feature throughout.

Another Hungarian nominee, Viktoria Mihalyvari-Farkas, impressed across both world and European competitions. She claimed bronze in the team event at the World Aquatics Championships before enjoying a highly successful continental campaign, winning European titles in the 10km and team event and adding silver in the 5km.

Her results reflect a season built on strength over longer distances and reliability in team competition, as she burst onto the international scene in 2025.

Completing the shortlist is Poland’s Klaudia Tarasiewicz, whose year was defined by dominance on the Open Water Cup circuit. She won three legs of the European Aquatics Open Water Swimming Cup and concluded the season in emphatic style by taking victory at the final leg of the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming Cup, marking her out as one of the most consistent performers across the series.

Click here to see the nominees for all categories and to vote for your winner.

Stephen Stanley for European Aquatics

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