The LEN Awards for Europe’s best aquatic athletes were recently announced. The awards began in 2008 and were previously based on the votes of National Federations. This year, fans were given the opportunity to vote and their results accounted for 30% of the overall outcome.

Sharon van Rouwendaal from the Netherlands retained her title as the best open water swimmer in Europe, winning her fifth LEN Award in the discipline. She won a set of gold medals last summer, which justified her claim for the award. Among the men, Gregorio Paltrinieri of Italy was voted the best. Despite his country’s overall dominance in the sport, this was the first time in 13 years that Italy had a male winner in this category.

Open water, Men

Gregorio Paltrinieri, ITA 63,79%
Florian Wellbrock, GER 15,64%
Domenico Acerenza, ITA 9,54%
Marc-Antoine Olivier, FRA 7,12%
Dario Verani, ITA 3,99%

Open water, Women

Sharon v. Rouwendaal, NED 55,12%
Leonie Beck, GER 22,00%
Giulia Gabbrielleschi, ITA 10,46%
Aurelie Muller, FRA 7,03%
Lea Boy, GER 5,38%

All Time Women
2008: Larisa Ilchenko (Russia)
2009: Angela Maurer (Germany)
2010: Linsy Heister (Netherlands)
2011: Keri-Anne Payne (Great Britain)
2012: Eva Risztov (Hungary)
2013: Martina Grimaldi (Italy)
2014: Sharon van Rouwendaal (Netherlands)
2015: Aurelie Muller (France)
2016: Sharon van Rouwendaal (Netherlands)
2017: Aurelie Muller (France)
2018: Sharon van Rouwendaal (Netherlands)
2019: Rachele Bruni (Italy)
2021: Sharon van Rouwendaal (Netherlands)

All Time Men
2008: Maarten van der Weijden (Netherlands)
2009: Thomas Lurz (Germany)
2010: Valerio Cleri (Italy)
2011: Thomas Lurz (Germany)
2012: Thomas Lurz (Germany)
2013: Thomas Lurz (Germany)
2014: Thomas Lurz (Germany)
2015: Ferry Weertman (Netherlands)
2016: Ferry Weertman (Netherlands)
2017: Marc-Antoine Olivier (France)
2018: Kristof Rasovszky (Hungary)
2019: Kristof Rasovszky (Hungary)
2021: Florian Wellbrock (Germany)

2023 LEN Open Water Cup

The 2023 LEN Open Water Cup programme features a full schedule of six legs, commencing on March 18 and ending on September 23, with the first leg to be held in Eliat, Israel and the last leg in Barcelona, Spain, while Belgrade, Samorin, and Veles are among the other host venues, adding to a busy year for open water swimmers, who will also have the Fina Open Water Tour and Fina World Aquatics Championships to compete in.

FULL 2023 LEN OPEN WATER CUP SCHEDULE

Will Paltrinieri claim the #LENOpenWaterCup title in 2023? 👀

Flashback to @greg_palt's 5km Open Water gold medal race at #LENRoma2022. The #OpenWater Season kicks off with Leg 1 of the Open Water Cup, March 18th 🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/qt6gtxCYNx

— LEN – European Aquatics (@LENaquatics) February 17, 2023

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