European Aquatics Athlete of the Year Awards 2025: Iris Tio Casas voted best women’s artistic swimmer
Spain’s Iris Tio Casas has been named the women’s artistic swimmer of the year at the 2025 European Aquatics Athlete of the Year Awards after topping a competitive five-strong shortlist.
Tio Casas secured 41.29% of the total vote, finishing well clear of Italy’s Enrica Piccoli, who took 22.48%, after a year that combined stand-out individual success with decisive contributions to Spain’s team performances on the world stage.
The 23-year-old from Barcelona enjoyed a remarkable World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, where she amassed three golds and three bronzes. Her campaign included a landmark first individual world gold in the solo free routine, bronze medals in the solo technical and team free events, and further podium finishes in team competitions.
Tio Casas carried that form from the European Championships in Funchal, where she claimed three continental golds, two silvers and a bronze, and added major titles in the duet free alongside 18-year-old Lilou Lluis Valette and in the mixed duet free with Dennis González.
Runner-up Piccoli compiled 22.48% of the vote following a breakthrough season that saw her win the first international gold of her career at the European Aquatics Artistic Swimming Championships in Funchal, combining with Lucrezia Ruggiero to take the duet free title, which was the country’s first European duet gold.
Piccoli also earned individual silver in the solo free and had earlier claimed solo free gold at the World Aquatics World Cup in Somabay. At the World Championships in Singapore she added another duet free silver with Ruggiero, underlining a year of sustained podium returns.
Third place went to Germany’s Klara Bleyer, who received 14.72% of the vote. The 21-year-old Berliner opened her season with multiple World Cup victories, which included solo free gold in Paris, solo technical gold in Somabay and solo free silver at the World Cup Super Final in Xi’an, before making history at the European Championships by becoming the first German athlete to win solo gold at that competition.
Ruggiero finished fourth with 11.78%. As well as sharing in Italy’s historic duet free gold with Piccoli she added mixed duet technical bronze at Funchal alongside Filippo Pelati; the pair also won world bronze in the same mixed duet technical event. Ruggiero’s season combined national firsts and consistent world-level podiums.
Rounding out the shortlist was on 9.66% of the vote was Lluis, who played a pivotal role in Spain’s success. As well as partnering Tió Casas to duet free gold at the World Championships she contributed to multiple team medals, including bronzes in the team acrobatic and technical routines at the global event. Her emergence alongside Tió Casas marked her out as one of the most promising young figures in the discipline.
Stephen Stanley for European Aquatics
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