Swim Squad Awards 2025: Athlete of the Year

Swim Squad Awards 2025: Athlete of the Year

In a Squad like ours, excellence is everywhere you look.

Some athletes PB’d across every discipline. Some completed their first Ironman. Some travelled the world chasing start lines, while others quietly built season-defining consistency at home. Many overcame injury, doubt, setbacks, or fear – and came back stronger. And the nominations for all of our awards reflected that: pages and pages of heartfelt praise, admiration, and recognition for teammates who made 2025 unforgettable.

What stood out more than anything was just how many different names appeared.

Athletes at every level.

Different strengths, different stories, different kinds of brilliance.

Most people said the same thing: “I could have picked so many more… everyone deserves recognition.”

That alone says everything about the culture this Squad has built.

Yet, among the dozens of nominations, six athletes appeared again and again – for their racing, yes, but also for their resilience, their leadership, their joy, their discipline, and the way they made others around them better.

Sara

Rebuilding after injury and then delivering some of the performances of the year. A season full of podiums, resilience, and quiet excellence.

Highlights:

Ironman Wales – 3rd in AG, 14th Overall

12 Hour Time Trial – 351k, 29.3kph

Outlaw Aquabike – 7th overall, 2nd female, 1st AG

The Eliminator Swimrun – Podium

“My athlete of the year has got to be Sara! She has handled injury and setbacks so maturely. Sought advice, trained and raced accordingly. Not only is she a true athlete but such a humble person. What a fabulous future she has ahead.”

Shane

A model of hard work and ambition, producing top-tier results across triathlon, ultras and marathons in a single, relentless season.

Highlights:

Geordieman – 3rd Overall (11.21)

M2L 80k Ultra – 10th Overall (4.44 min/k pace)

Barcelona Marathon – 2:55 (PB)

Ironman Leeds – 11:52

Valencia Marathon – 2.52 (PB) 

“An unbelievable season from my athlete of the year!”

Matt F

The definition of consistency, training excellence, and quiet leadership – someone who elevates every session he’s in. A breakout year across distances and formats.

Highlights:

First Ironman – Ironman Leeds (12:10)

Podiums at multiple Sprint Triathlons

Strong run and marathon best time at Manchester Marathon

Calm, controlled, and remarkably versatile.

“Is there anything this athlete can’t do?”

Jan

Jan’s season felt like watching three different elite athletes rolled into one: Swimrun podiums, marathon swims, adventure racing, ultras – all done with joy.

Highlights:

Swimrun Sprint World Champs (Spain) – 3rd AG

Swimrun Half Marathon World Champs (Germany) – 3rd AG

First Marathon Swimrun (Austria) – 3rd AG

Ultra marathon

UTMB qualifier at Cadair X

And plenty of “skins swimming” and gravel thrown in for good measure

A first year of racing abroad that reads like a career highlights roll of honour.

“Jan’s attitude and willingness to give ANYTHING a go is super impressive – never worried about appearance, being new to something. No ego, just a lot of enthusiasm, solid training and giving it all a go. And she performs really well too!”

Mel

A brilliantly diverse endurance season, full of breakthroughs, travel, big miles and big moments. Courageous, wholehearted, taking on everything from the Fred Whitton to cold water miles, transforming herself and inspiring everyone watching.

Highlights:

• Barcelona Marathon – PB

• Fred Whitton 

• Lakesman 70.3

• Windermere 3k Swim

• The Geordieman – 3rd Female

• Berlin Marathon

• The Cool Mile – Podium

A season that never eased up – and never dipped.

“Mel – her all round performances have rocketed. Since I started the Wednesday swim sessions, I’ve noticed her swim improving so much – and in open water too. Her PBs in running and the dedication she spent on the bike doing numerous long bike rides over the season.”

Dani

The master of tough conditions and smart racing. Calm, focused, fiercely hard-working, balancing life and high performance with an ease and humility that sets the standard for us all.

Highlights:

European AG 70.3 Championships (Spain)

Berlin Marathon

British Middle Distance Champs (Lakesman 70.3) – 3rd AG

“Multiple hot, challenging races handled with maturity and precision“

A season of intelligent planning and impressive execution.

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Closing Thoughts

What does it take to have a season so strong, so consistent, so deeply resonant that your teammates nominate you for Athlete of the Year?

It isn’t just fast racing – though these six certainly raced fast.

It isn’t just big results – though the results were exceptional.

It’s something harder to quantify, but impossible to miss.

It’s the way they trained when no one was watching. The way they handled setbacks – not with drama, but with courage. The way they encouraged others even on their own tired days. The way they showed up, week after week, with commitment, humility, and purpose.

These athletes didn’t just deliver great performances – they delivered great seasons built on months of consistency, thousands of metres and miles, and countless moments where they chose to keep going. They led by example, lifted lanes, set standards, and inspired others not through words or being loud, but through the way they approached their training and racing.

And yet, the most powerful part of this award is … they were chosen by you.

By the people who trained beside them, shared the late night sessions, shared endless bike rides, shared fears, shared breakthroughs. By those who saw up close the dedication, the kindness, the resilience, the courage.

So to our six nominees – Sara, Shane, Matt, Jan, Mel, and Dani – congratulations on seasons that truly stood out.

But to the rest of the Squad, I must stress that every nomination came with the same message behind it…

“We could have named so many more.”

Because that’s the kind of year it was.

That’s the kind of Squad you are.

A group where excellence is common, effort is celebrated, and every athlete – whether nominated or not – contributes to something bigger than themselves.

“The Squad is bigger than the sum of its parts.”

Here’s to the seasons built quietly, the athletes who rise steadily, and the Squad that brings out the best in every single one of its athletes.