Two German swimmers have been nominated for awards at the Felix Sportsman of the Year Awards which will be held in Dortmund on the 12th of December this year. The awards are presented to North Rhine-Westphalia athletes for excellence in athletic performance.
Isabelle Harle was one of the two swimmers nominated for an award. Harle was nominated for the athlete of the year category where she’ll be up against four other women.
Harle had an incredible European Championships this summer which left her with one gold medal in the 5km open water swim and a bronze in the Open Water team event. Harle had a breakout season in 2013 when she won gold at the 2013 World Championships in the team event following a bronze in the same event from the 2011 worlds in Shanghai.
Harle was the only female German athlete at the European Championships to come home with an individual gold medal this summer.
The other swimmer nominated for an award is young up-and-comer Max Pilger. Pilger cleaned up at the Jr European Championships picking up golds in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Those wins were preceded by a stellar performance at the Youth Olympic Games where Pilger earned himself a silver medal in the 100m breaststroke.
Pilger is up for the newcomer of the year award, which is truly fitting due to the nature of his breakout season.
The public will be responsible for choosing the recipients of the awards which will be announced on Dec. 12 at the awards ceremony in Dortmund.