See all of our 2024 Swammy Awards here.
European Coach of the Year: Antonio Lutula, Sweden
For the 2nd straight year, Swedish coach Antonio Lutula is the winner of the Swammy for European Coach of the Year.
Lutula took over as the head coach of the Swedish National Centre in 2022, and has been the primary coach for Olympic Gold Medalist Sarah Sjostrom, who had an exceptional Olympic year.
Sjostrom started the year, picking up her 5th straight World Title in the 50 fly at the 2024 World championships in Doha. She also won her 3rd title in the 50 free, swimming 23.69 just 8 one-hundredths slower than her World Record time of 23.61 from the 2023 World Championships.
At the 2024 Sette Colli Trophy, a tune-up meet for Sjostrom who had already qualified for the Olympic Games, She won the 50 free, 100 free, and 50 fly, breaking the meet record in all three events and setting the stage for what was coming in Paris.
At the Olympic Games, Sjostrom won both the 50 and 100 freestyle events, earning her 2nd and 3rd Olympic titles. Lutula was a crucial component of Sjostrom even swimming both of the events, as going into the Games she was unsure she wanted to contest the 100 at all, despite holding the World Record, wanting to focus solely on the 50. She had even told the media in February that she would not be swimming the 100 because she believed the 50 was her best shot at winning another gold medal.
At this point in her career, she had won just one Olympic medal, the 100 fly in 2016, despite competing at the last five Olympics and holding World Records since 2009.
Despite appearing on the entry list for the event at the Games, Sjostrom told Lutula after the 4×100 freestyle relay, where she went 52.53, that she did not think she would swim the 100 saying, “I don’t think the 100m Freestyle is for me, I want to do the 50m, I will rest until the 50m.” Lutula insisted on her swimming the event, telling her, “No way, you need to go out there and see what you can do, no matter the outcome”.
Clearly that was the correct decision, as just four days later, Sjostrom picked up her 2nd Olympic title, winning the event from lane 7 in 52.16. Four days after that race, she broke the Olympic record in the 50 freestyle going 23.66 in the semifinals. The next night she won in 23.71, earning her 3rd gold medal.
Sjostrom has been under 24 seconds 39 times in her career, and she owns the top seven swims in history. 22 of which have come while under Lutula’s tutelage.
Lutula does not only coach Sjostrom. As the head coach of the National Elite Centre, he has coached many of the top Swedish athletes. Eight Swedish Olympic were associated with the National Elite Centre leading into the Olympic games: Sjostrom, Michelle Coleman, Louise Hansson, Sophie Hansson, Sofia Astedt, Sara Junevik, Robin Hanson, and Bjorn Seeliger
Louise and Sophie Hansson both moved back to Sweden after swimming a few years at Loughborough. Louise made it through to the final in the 100 fly, placing 8th in 57.34, and qualified for the semifinal in the 100 back finishing 15th. She was also a member of the 4×100 freestyle relay that placed 5th.
Sophie’s highest finish came in the 100 breast, where she finished 13th. She also swam the 200 breaststroke, placing 25th in prelims. Both girls swam on the 7th place 4×100 medley for Sweden.
Michelle Coleman swam in the semifinals of the 50 and 100 freestyles, placing 9th and 12 respectively.
Lutula’s final individual event swimmer was Bjorn seeliger, who swam in prelims of the 50 and 100 free where he finished 31st and 40th, respectively. Astedt, Junevik, and Hanson all swam on relays for Sweden.
Sam Tornqvist also swims under Lutula, and while he didn’t make the Olympic team he holds national records in both the 100 and 200 backstroke SCM. At the 2024 SC World Championships, he swam the prelims of the 50 back (38th), 200 back (18th), and 200 IM (19th).
Honorable Mention
- Philippe Lucas, France: Lucas has been coaching distance swimmers for decades, and he recently coached Tunisia’s Ahmed Jaouadi to a gold medal at the 2024 SC World Championships. Jaouadi burst onto the scene this season, earning two finals berths at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the 800 and the 1500. He finished 4th in the 800, one place back of a medal, and 6th in the 1500. He also finished 9th in the 400, just out of finals position. This came after a disappointing performance at the 2024 World Championships where he placed 25th in his only event, the 400 free. At Short Course Worlds in December, Jaouadi won the 1500 freestyle, earned a bronze in the 800, and finished 7th in the 400. These results were a far cry from the 25th place finish less than 10 months earlier. Lucas also coaches Olympic silver medalist Anastasia Kirpichnikova. Kirpichnikova recently became a French citizen, and at the 2024 Paris Olympics, she won the silver in the women’s 1500m freestyle. She also finished 7th in the 800 and 15th in the 400. At the 2024 Short Course Worlds, she finished 4th in the 1500 and 6th in the 800.
Previous Winners:
- 2023 Swammy – Antonio Lutula
- 2022 Swammy – Alberto Pinto da Silva
- 2021 Swammy – Tom Rushton
- 2020 Swammy — Mark Faber
- 2019 Swammy — James Gibson
- 2018 Swammy — Energy Standard Club staff
- 2017 Swammy — Philippe Lucas
- 2016 Swammy — Stefano Morini
- 2015 Swammy — Shane Tusup
given all the success european men (and women) have had this year i would love to see more coverage of their coaches (altho i imagine language barriers pose a bit of a problem)! i really enjoyed antonios interview w coleman — thought it was super interesting how he tipped the frontend speed/starts/underwaters of gretchen and torri as the likely pathway to breaking sarah’s 100 free wr
Not doubting the rationale behind this choice at all (I think it makes sense) but I am surprised Bernd Berkhahn didn’t at least get an honourable mention with the results coming from his squad members.
agreed, theres quite a few european coaches who had pretty strong results last year — mark faber, bernd berkhahn, marco pedoja, alberto burlina