Courtesy of Swimming World Magazine.
Swimming World Magazine named Olympic 10K marathon swimming gold medalist Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands as its Swimming World Female Open Water Swimmer of the Year.
It was the 25-year-old’s third Swimming World Female Open Water Swimmer of the Year award.
She has been similarly honored in 2014 and 2016. This year, van Rouwendaal had four podium finishes at the LEN European Championships.
The Dutch Olympic 10K marathon swimming gold medalist also won the 10 km races in Qatar on the FINA/HOSA Marathon Swim World Series and at the Championnats de France de Natation en Eau Libre in France. She competed in the FINA/HOSA Marathon Swim World Series, racing in the Seychelles, Portugal, Hungary and China, but her season highlights were most obvious in Loch Lomond.
On the first day of European Championships held in Scotland’s Loch Lomond where wetsuits were required due to FINA regulations, she dominated the 5 km race. On the second day, she won the 10 km race. On the third day of competition, she was part of the winning Dutch 5 km mixed team relay. On the final day after a punishing 25 km, only Arianna Bridi of Italy stood between her and a clean sweep of the four open water events – by the slimmest of margins. Bridi touched her out in 0.1 seconds for gold.
Van Rouwendaal was also nominated for the 2018 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year award today [see here].
Copyright © 2008-2018 by World Open Water Swimming Association