National record holder Viktor Bromer and coach Eyleifur Jóhannesson were among the honorees last night at the Danish Swimming Union (Dansk Svømmeunion) annual awards ceremony in Copenhagen.
With his fifth-place World Championship finish in the 200-meter butterfly and new Nordic/Danish record, Bromer earned the title of Male Athlete of the Year, while Jóhannesson earned Coach of the Year honors. Bromer put together a career performance in Kazan, clocking a 1:54.47 in prelims of the 200-meter butterfly to establish new Danish and Nordic (consisting of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands) records. That time qualified him second for semifinals, where he made the top eight and ultimately finished fifth in finals.
Jóhannesson was named Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career for his work with Bromer and female star Mie Nielsen, one of the most decorated swimmers in the country’s history. Nielsen won her first long course World Championship medal last summer in Kazan (a bronze in the 100-meter backstroke), and also setting new Danish/Nordic records in both the 50 and 100-meter backstrokes over the course of the meet. Both swimmers also won multiple titles at this year’s Danish Short Course Nationals, and will represent Denmark in Rio.
The other big winner on the night was Mads Hjorth, who captured Developmental Coach of the Year. Hjorth is the head coach at Odder Svømmeklub, which had its first ever senior-level national champion this season (Lasse Dall in the 50 butterfly at Danish Short Course Nationals).
Also as part of the awards, the Danish Swimming Union announced the names of the 10 swimmers (including Bromer, who will be looking to defend his European title from 2014) who will be competing at next month’s European Championships in London:
Men:
Viktor Bromer
Søren Dahl
Anton Ipsen
Women:
Emilie Beckmann
Pernille Blume
Sarah Bro
Julie Kepp Jensen
Mie Nielsen
Jeanette Ottesen
Rikke Moeller Pedersen.
Coaches:
Dean Boles
Eyleifur Johannesson
Nick Juba
Mie Nielsen was awarded Female Swimmer of the Year.