On Friday evening Ari-Pekka Liukkonen was named the Finnish Swimmer of the Year.
The awards were given out at the Baltic Queen Sports Swimming Gala cruise. The awards gala is one of the key events for Finnish Swimming and continues to received increased attention.
Liukkonen won the bronze medal in the 50 freestyle at the 2014 European Championships posting a time of 21.93. He broke his own Finnish record of 22.22 which he set in 2012.
Liukkonen also swam the 100 freestyle, 50 butterfly and 50 breaststroke in Berlin.
His coach Marko Malvela was also honoured for his tremendous work over the last year.
Leo Lahteenmaki won the Para-Swimmer of the Year award. Lahteenmaki collected a bronze in the S9 50 freestyle at the IPC European Games.
Tuomas Kaario was honoured for achieving the feat of crossing the Gulf of Finland. Last July Kaario swam the 58 km distance in 21 hours and 36 minutes over two days.
The Gulf of Finland stretches from Estonia to Finland across the Baltic Sea.
