A host of world-class talent from across British Swimming's aquatic disciplines are in line for prizes at British Swimming: The Awards, Supercharged by Speedo, with the winners set to be announced at tomorrow's event (Saturday 12th November).
With the calendar year drawing to a close, one of the highlights of the British aquatics season will descend on Manchester, as achievements of athletes and staff alike are recognised.
As there was no edition of the awards in 2021, all nominees have been selected based on their performances across both 2021 and 2022, with the names including medallists and record holders from across the aquatic disciplines. The night will serve up many memories of a two-year period that provided a massive Paralympic medal haul in the pool, a record-equalling diving performance at the Olympics and a record-best swimming display in Tokyo - all before some incredible moments at this year's World and European Championships, and a home Commonwealth Games.
There are Outstanding Athlete awards up for grabs in all six of the aquatic disciplines, with the overall Champion Athlete crowned at the end of the night. The swimming nominations for Outstanding Athlete in their discipline are made up of Olympic champions Tom Dean, Adam Peaty and Duncan Scott, with World, Commonwealth and European 50m Freestyle Champion Ben Proud completing the quartet of nominees.
The Outstanding Para-Swimming Athlete nominees exclusively feature Paralympic champions. Reece Dunn, who was Paralympics GB’s most decorated athlete at the games, is joined by triple world champions Bethany Firth, Tully Kearney, and Maisie Summers-Newton.
Diving is a similar affair, with Olympic 10m Synchro champions Matty Lee and Tom Daley joined by Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Jack Laugher, who both had exceptional two-year periods, the pair taking European and Commonwealth titles after Jack's record-breaking World Championships.
Aidan Heslop and Owen Weymouth are the nominees for the Outstanding High Diver Award, as Heslop took gold at the FINA High Diving qualifier in Abu Dhabi last December (also placing second in the world in the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series), and Weymouth being named FINA Best Male High Diver at the Aquatics Festival in the same city.
The Outstanding Water Polo Player Award sees three nominees, with EU Nations tournament MVP Lily Turner making the shortlist, alongside GB returner James Salt and regular performer Jordan Elliot.
Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe are the sole nominees for the Outstanding Artistic Swimmers Award, the pair making their Olympic debuts at Tokyo 2020, as well as finishing in sixth and fourth place at the World and European Championships respectively.
![Tully Kearney Madeira 2022 [Getty]](https://www.aquaticsgb.com/media/images/GettyImages-1402498057.width-300.jpg)
There are also coaching awards up for grabs, with the Loughborough Performance Centre, Bath Performance Centre, and University of Stirling coaches Mel Marshall, David McNulty and Steven Tigg respectively all making the shortlist for Outstanding Swimming Coach of 2021/22 in recognition of their work with British athletes across all four major meets over the past two seasons.
The Outstanding Para-Swimming Coach Award features coaches from a variety of different centres too. Plymouth Leander’s Robin Armayan makes the shortlist for his work with Reece Dunn, whilst Chris Jones and Matt Trodden of University of Edinburgh’s efforts with Stephen Clegg see them in the running. Andy Sharp of Northampton completes the list for his work with a number of swimmers on the GB program, including Maisie Summers-Newton and Worlds debutants Eliza and Scarlett Humphrey.
Jane Figueiredo’s time with Dive London’s Tom Daley and Matty Lee at the Tokyo Olympics is among the reasons she is nominated for the Outstanding Diving Coach Award, while Alex Rochas of the same club makes the list for his work with European and Commonwealth 2022 champion Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix, among a host of others across a packed 2022 for him. Adam Smallwood completes the list, with his repertoire of divers taking medals at every major international competition in the past two years - including a stunning set of results for Jack Laugher, and the emergence of Laugher and Anthony Harding as a new pair to challenge the top step of every global podium this year.
The Outstanding Water Polo Coach Award sees City of Manchester’s Theo Nousios nominated after his men’s and women’s teams both won British Water Polo League titles, whilst Claudio Palumbo joins him on the shortlist for his work with getting West London Penguin back to Division 1 of the league. South West Region head coach Nick Hume rounds off the nominees for the award, which sees his efforts with the national academy girls’ squad receiving widespread praise.
National team coaches Katie Clark and Paola Basso are the two nominees for the Outstanding Artistic Swimming Coach Award, the pair both working tirelessly with a number of athletes within the group to ensure that the program continues to flourish, with a number of impressive results in recent competitions.
The final set of nominees come in the Emerging Athlete category. Bath Performance Centre’s Ed Mildred makes the shortlist after taking three medals at the 2021 European Junior Championships in Rome, before senior competitions in 2022 saw the athlete play a key part in the relays across the Commonwealth Games and European Championships – taking five medals.
City of Glasgow’s Katie Shanahan joins Mildred, with the 18-year-old’s six medals at last year’s European Juniors being followed by a stunning senior season which included two bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games, followed by a memorable silver at the senior European Championships. City of Leeds’ Leah Schlosshan completes the list for her gold-medal-winning performance in 200m Individual Medley at the 2022 edition of European Juniors, with the athlete also taking a bronze medal in the 4x100m Medley Relay the year prior.
The Para-Swimming Emerging Athlete Award sees a nomination for East Lothian’s Sam Downie, with the 16-year-old making his senior international debut in 2022 at Madeira’s World Para-Swimming Championships. Downie is joined by Northampton’s Scarlett Humphrey, with the athlete making five individual finals at Worlds this year – rounded off with a sensational bronze medal in the Mixed 49pts 4x100m Freestyle Relay. Alsager’s Poppy Maskill completes the nominees in the category, as she collected a medal of every colour in Madeira – the gold medal coming after she led off the Mixed S14 4x100m Medley Relay team to take the win - in a memorable breakthrough campaign.
Completing the roster of award runners and riders is the Diving Emerging Athlete Award. The nominees all come from Dive London Aquatics, with Desharne Bent-Ashmeil’s inclusion coming from her appearances in all three major international competitions in 2022, with a handful of fourth-placed finishes. Amy Rollinson also makes the shortlist after she completed a stellar transition from junior to senior level after her bronze medal at 2021’s European Juniors, before her time at 2022’s World Championships and Commonwealth Games saw her claim a bronze medal in the latter. Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix is the only athlete to be nominated for two awards, as the Outstanding Athlete nominee also features in the Emerging Athlete category for her five European, one World and three Commonwealth medals across 2021 and 2022.
The event will be an opportunity for all stakeholders of British Swimming to come together and celebrate the successes of the athletes and coaches, as progress builds towards Paris 2024.
Click here to read through all of the award listings across the disciplines.