Italy’s Giorgio Minisini has been named best male artistic swimmer in the 2024 European Aquatics Athlete of the Year Awards – effectively crowning an illustrious 15-year career on which he called time last July. 

The popular 28-year-old Roman began his final season in February by earning his fourth world gold – and first world solo title – as he won the free routine in Doha, also claiming silver in the men’s solo technical routine.

At the European Aquatics Championships, in which he had earned two solo and two mixed duet titles when it was staged in his native city two years earlier, he added two final medals to his collection in taking solo free silver and solo technical bronze.

Minisini had hopes of competing in his first Olympics this summer following the International Olympic Committee’s decision to include men in the Games for the first time by allowing nations to select up to two male athletes in their eight-strong entries for the team event.

No men were selected by any country however.

This, though, was not the sole reason why he retired, he said at the press conference held to announce his decision.

He told World Aquatics’ Nick Hope: “Of course, in my opinion mixed duet needs to be integrated into the Olympic programme but I think we also need to work on solos. 

“Mixed team was a good idea (for Paris 2024), but we need to build on that and make it possible by looking at rules and convincing national federations to integrate men into their teams.”

He went on to say that winning his first (solo) title in Rome in 2022 had been “very significant” for him because it was his home city and because he was competing very close to the pool where he had begun his career and in which he had seen the legendary United States pioneer artistic swimmer Bill May performing.

He added: “After those championships something changed in Italy. 

“Artistic swimming started to be seen after that time and journalists, TV reporters and crowds started to take a more serious approach to our sport and that’s something I think we need to keep pushing to improve the sport further.”

The respect in which this athlete is held in the world of aquatics was borne out by the figures as he regained the award he received in 2022 with a total vote of 37.13 per cent, comprising 39.54 per cent of the federation votes and 31.51 per cent of the public vote.

He finished almost 10 per cent ahead of his 20-yer-old Spanish rival Dennis Gonzalez Boneu, who beat him to the 2023 award by less than two per cent.

Gonzalez Boneu, who a total of 29.17 per cent of the votes – gaining 32.55 per cent of the federation vote and 21.28 per cent of the public vote – was succeeded by Minisini as men’s solo free world champion in Doha, taking silver and finishing fourth in the technical routine.

But the Spaniard responded later in 2024 by becoming European gold medallist in the men’s technical solo – two years after Minisini had claimed that honour to become the first male artistic swimmer to earn an individual European title.

Gonzalez Boneu made his mark too on the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup series, coming to the fore in the third of the stops in Markham, Canada, where he took bronze in the men’s free solo, before earning gold in the men’s solo technical routine at the World Cup Super Final in Budapest.

Third place in this year’s vote went to the rapidly emerging talent of Italy’s 17-year-old Filippo Pelati, who won both the men solo free and technical routines at the European Junior Championships, and finished fourth in both at the World Junior Championships.

He also made an impact at senior level in the Swimming World Cup series. After earning men’s solo free gold and solo technical bronze at the opening stop in Beijing, and adding solo technical bronze at stop two in Paris, he secured silvers in both free and technical at stop three and Super Final bronze in the solo technical.

Pelati totalled18.43 per cent after gaining 18.60 per cent of the federation votes and 18.01 per cent of the public vote.

The European Aquatics Championships that took place in Belgrade in June saw another breakthrough performance, this time for 18-year-old Ranjuo Tomblin, who claimed his first European title and Britain’s first European gold in 39 years as he won the men’s solo free routine.

Tomblin, who had already taken silver in the men’s technical routine behind Gonzalez Boneu and bronze in mixed duet free, netted a total of 11.08 per cent, comprising 6.98 per cent of the federation votes and 20.65 per cent of the public vote.

In fifth place was Frithjof Seidel, earned acrobatic team gold at the European Aquatics Championships, a historic victory for Germany, and also competed in the European solo competition. He earned a total of 4.18 per cent of the vote.