European Aquatics Athlete of the Year Awards: David Popovici, two other Romanians among 2024 nominees

European Aquatics revealed the nominees for the 2024 Athlete of the Year Awards, and three Romanians are on the list: star swimmer David Popovici and high divers Cătălin Preda and Constantin Popovici. Fans can vote for their favorite athletes by December 31.

The awards celebrate male and female competitors across the whole range of European Aquatics activities – swimming, open water swimming, diving, high diving, artistic swimming, and water polo.

Olympic swimming champion David Popovici is on the list of nominees for the best male swimmer of 2024, alongside Daniel Wiffen (Ireland), Kristof Milak (Hungary), Leon Marchand (France), and Thomas Ceccon (Italy).

Meanwhile, the list of nominees for the best male high diver of 2024 includes Romanians Cătălin-Petru Preda (one World Aquatics bronze) and Constantin Popovici (8th World Aquatics; one World Cup gold). The other athletes in this category are Aiden Heslop (Great Britain), Carlos Gimeno (Spain), and Gary Hunt (France).

Public voting is open online until December 31 - here. To cast a vote, fans need to select the image of the athlete they wish to support – one vote per discipline in each category. The public vote will count for 30% of the total voting, with 70% weighting for the European Aquatics members and technical committee voting.

The 12 winners are set to be revealed in January on the European Aquatics website and social media channels.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Colette Rochefort)