FINA named its athletes of the year last night in Budapest, Hungary. Mitch Larkin and Katinka Hosszu were named the swimmers of the year, while Adam Peaty and Katie Ledecky were given the “Best Swimming Performance” award.
Full FINA Press Release:
The FINA Athletes of the Year 2015 were unveiled in Budapest (HUN) in a memorable FINA World Aquatics Gala – “Soirée des Etoiles” (Evening of the Stars), held in the iconic Vigado Concert Hall on Sunday January 31, 2016.
FINA awarded the best athletes across FINA’s six disciplines in men and women’s categories and paid tribute to their greatness and achievement in the sport.
In addition, an award for the best swimming performances in Kazan 2015 was presented to a male and a female athlete.
The 2015 winners per category are:
| Men | Mitchell Larkin | Australia | |
| Women | Katinka Hosszu | Hungary | |
| Best Swimming Performance |
Adam Peaty Katie Ledecky |
Great Britain USA |
|
| Men | Serbia Player: captain Zivko Gocic |
Serbia | |
| Women | USA Player: captain Maggie Steffens |
USA | |
| Men | He Chao | China | |
| Women | Shi Tingmao | China | |
| Men | Bill May Aleksandr Maltsev |
USA Russia |
|
| Women | Svetlana Romashina | Russia | |
| Men | Jordan Willimovsky | USA | |
| Women | Ana Marcela Cunha | Brazil | |
| Men | Gary Hunt | Great Britain | |
| Women | Rachelle Simpson | USA | |
The following coaches were also rewarded on the occasion: Alex Rochas (coach of Gary Hunt), Dejan Savic (coach of Serbia), Adam Krikorian (coach of USA), Nie Yudi (coach of He Chao), Zhao Wenjin (coach of Shi Tingmao), Chris Caver (coach of Bill May), Gana Maximova (coach of Aleksandr Maltsev), Tatiana Danchenko (coach of Svetlana Romashina), Michael Bohl (coach of Mitch Larkin), Jason Carlton (coach of Rachelle Simpson), Dave Kelsheimer (coach of Jordan Wilimovsky), Fernando Possenti (coach of Ana Marcela Cunha), Bruce Gemmell (coach of Katie Ledecky), Melanie Marshall (coach of Adam Peaty), and Shane Tusup (coach of Katinka Hosszu).
The “Soirée des Etoiles” was first held in Doha, Qatar, in December 2014, in between the annual FINA World Aquatics Convention and the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m).
Budapest is the host of the next FINA World Championships and FINA World Masters Championships in July-August 2017.
VIDEO GALLERY OF AWARDS: