It cemented their status as greats of the sport and they have been rewarded with World Aquatics Athlete of the Year honours.

Sharon van Rouwendaal

On 8 August 2024, Sharon van Rouwendaal made history as the first athlete to win multiple gold medals in the Women’s 10km at an Olympic Games. Eight years on from her success at Rio 2016, she underlined her credentials as one of the greatest female open water swimmers of all time by racing to victory in the River Seine. She produced an incredible display of strength and endurance to cross the finish line in 2:03:34.2, beating training partner and closest challenger Moesha Johnson of Australia by just 5.5 seconds.

It completed a clean sweep of success for van Rouwendaal across the World Aquatics Championships and Olympic Games in 2024.

In Doha in February, she achieved a double in the Women’s 5km and 10km races. It was a first gold medal in the 5km distance at the World Aquatics Championships for the experienced Dutch athlete, clocking 57:33.9 for victory. In the 10km, van Rouwendaal pipped Spain’s María de Valdés to gold in a thrilling finish to reclaim the title she had won at the World Aquatics Championships Budapest 2022.

Even having achieved so much in open water swimming previously, 2024 was van Rouwendaal’s best year of her career to date.

Kristóf Rasovszky

Kristóf Rasovszky created history of his own in 2024, celebrating a first Olympic gold medal in the Men’s 10km in Paris. Three years after having to settle for silver in Tokyo, he achieved the crowning moment of his career with an outstanding performance to finish in 1:50:52.7.

“I was prepared for this. Yesterday when I saw Sharon winning, I thought this was a sign because she was second in Tokyo, the same as me, so I thought it was a sign for me,” he reflected afterwards.

His Olympic gold added to success at the World Aquatics Championships in 2024 for Rasovszky, who celebrated a first World title in the 10km race in Doha.

Later on in Doha, he swam the anchor leg to help Hungary win bronze in the Mixed 4x1500m Relay. At the European Aquatics Championships in Belgrade in June, he was part of Hungary’s gold medal effort in the same event.

For both World Aquatics Athlete of the Year Award winners in open water swimming, 2024 was a glittering year of success and their honours are richly deserved.