Jack Laugher named LEN European diver of the year for 2022

Jack Laugher has been named LEN European diver of the year for the third time in his career.

The City of Leeds diver enjoyed a memorable 2022 where he picked up eight medals across world and European Championships as well as the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

He came out on top of a six-man shortlist for the award which included his teammate and Commonwealth Champion Noah Williams.

The 28-year old also won the award in both 2016 and 2018 and is now just one short of fellow British diver Tom Daley’s record of four LEN Awards.

His year was headlined by his trifecta of medals at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre where he helped Team England fire their way to the top of the diving medal table.

At the Games, Laugher secured two golds and one bronze medal with individual glory in the 1m Springboard and bronze in the 3m Springboard. He also won gold alongside fellow City of Leeds diver Anthony Harding in the 3m Synchronised Platform event.

In 2022, he was the only European to collect two individual world medals at the World Diving Championships. He won silver off the 1m and bronze off the 3m Springboard in Budapest where he continued his successful partnership with Harding to claim silver in the 3m Synchronised event.

And then at the European Championships in Rome he got his fourth and fifth European titles of his career with 1m Springboard gold before teaming with Harding to become 3m Synchronised Platform champions.

Winners were chosen after a recent public vote between the finalists which contributed 30% of the final total with 70% of the votes coming from LEN members and technical committee voting.

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐 𝐋𝐄𝐍 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 🏆

LEN are happy to announce the winners for the #LENAwards2022 after fans were given the chance to have their say in the first-ever public vote!

Check out the winners for both male and female categories ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/i13swxfkNM

— LEN – European Aquatics (@LENaquatics) February 16, 2023

‘I’m so proud’

A proud Laugher was grateful after receiving the award, saying: “It’s an incredible honour to be nominated in the first place for male diver of the year – but to actually win the award, and to win it for a third time, is such a huge achievement for me.

“It really caps off a brilliant year for myself, and an amazing year for Team GB, British Swimming and British Diving as well.

“We had some fantastic results across the pool, and to have two British females and two British males nominated is a massive achievement. To come out on top, I’m so proud.

“I’d just like to thank everyone who has helped me to get to the position I’m in to be able to win these awards, and hopefully I’ll continue to continue my success in the future and up to the Olympic Games as well.

“Thank you very much to LEN and to everyone who voted, I really appreciate the support and love from everyone.”

Meanwhile Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Lois Toulson were nominees for the women’s diver of the award after they each enjoyed an incredible 2022.

The duo narrowly missed out on the award which was awarded to Italy’s Chiara Pellacani.