Angharad Evans was named Swimming Athlete of the Year at the Aquatics GB Awards at a ceremony in Glasgow.
Artistic swimmer Ranjuo Tomblin was named Maurice Watkins Champion Athlete of the Year while Amalie Smith and Ben Higson were among other award winners.
Angharad Evans: Photo Courtesy: Deepbluemedia
Evans enjoyed a year in which she won European and Commonwealth titles as she visited international podiums, two years after her debut at Paris 2024.
She clinched the 100/200 breaststroke double at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on top of silver with the Team Scotland medley relay quartet and bronze with the mixed relay.
The University of Stirling swimmer then travelled to Paris for the European Championships. There she was crowned 100 breaststroke champion and won 200 silver behind Evgeniia Chikunova. She still had more to come on the final night in the French capital as she posted 1:03.75 for the fastest breaststroke split in history as Great Britain won the women’s medley relay to guarantee top spot on the medal table.
Smith H0noured As Her Star Rises; Tomblin Recognised After Golden Run
Smith was named Emerging Athlete of the Year after a summer that saw her collect armfuls of silverware in junior and senior competition. She won golds in the 400IM and 4×100 free and a silver and a bronze at the European Junior Championships in Munich before heading to Glasgow where she made her debut in Team England colours.
There she won silvers in the 400IM and 4×100 freestyle relay plus bronze in the 200IM before heading to Paris for the final leg of her European odyssey. She won 4×200 free relay gold and 400IM silver as Ellen Walshe came past her on the final 50 following a transformative last turn and underwaters.
Amalie Smith: Photo Courtesy: European Aquatics/ Derencsényi István
Smith achieved all of the above aged 16 and didn’t turn 17 until August.
Higson – and the University of Stirling team – was named Coach of the Year after guiding the likes of Evans, Keanna MacInnes, Katie Shanahan, Duncan Scott and Jack McMillan to success in international waters.
Ranjuo Tomblin enjoyed a golden season that ended with a four artistic swimming gold medals from as many events at the European Championships. He won the men’s solo technical, the mixed duet technical, the mixed duet free and the men’s solo free.
That followed an outstanding World Cup campaign in which he won 17 medals, 12 of them gold. He also won all four of his events at the World Cup Super Final in Toronto in June. That earned him the Maurice Watkins Champion Athlete of the Year Award on top of the artistic swimming honours.
Other award winners were Toula Falvey (water polo), Maisie Bond (diving) and Bethany Firth (para-swimming).